[Serious] What was the most difficult time in your life? How did you remain strong and what was the outcome?

My teen years were the most difficult - my mom was in an abusive relationship, I was raped by a classmate at school, the police transferred me to a new school for my safety but then he switched to my new school and nobody cared about my safety anymore. Tried to kill myself. I moved out at 17 and tried to drink the problems away.

Things got easier after high school since I was no longer dealing with my rapist every day, but I ended up living at home again so I was still in that abusive environment, and my mom's partner kept 'accidentally' locking me in the basement where my room was. They charged me rent, the exact amount my dad was giving me while I was in university (unbeknownst to him).

Then I was raped again by someone I met up with for casual sex - it started off consensually and then he just lost it and hurt me really badly while I tried to fight him off. He then completely mindfucked me and said I hadn't been clear enough about withdrawing consent, because the words 'ow' and 'no' were too ambiguous and the struggle was obviously just how I liked it. I didn't report it, I believed he'd done nothing wrong and it was me that fucked up. I tried to kill myself again, and then had a bit of a breakdown where I was convinced everything in life would be totally fine if I just listened to the sound of water??? But a specific body of water, for some reason. It was pretty weird.

Anyway, I moved to a whole new country, which straight away was an enormous help. I met an incredibly kind and caring man who is now my husband and best friend in the world. I've been to therapy. I take anti-depressants. I am extremely happy with my life now and I just try not to think too much about what I went through before.

/r/AskReddit Thread