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“(…)My dad: “That’s the way it is.”My ex: “This is normal.”My dad: “I still love her” (even though she causes you pain and distress)My ex: “You want me to end the friendship with her?! We’ve known each other for 15 years!” (even though it’s putting stress on the current relationship).

My dad controlled my feelings and reactions. I was easier to control than my mum. I was a child. I trusted he was my safe net, my security source. I trusted all he said and wanted me to do was for my good. Whenever he told me, “It’s normal, I love her anyway,” he asked me to stop listening to my feelings. He uncounsciously asked me to stop trusting what I saw, what I felt, what my body told me. And I did. I trusted him that it was good for me. It wasn’t… I shut down the connection between me and my feelings. I stopped trusting my instinct. I started seeing painful and dangerous situations as “normal”, accepting them and learning to live them… He subtly gaslighted me, whenever I said she was horrible to me. Whenever I was angry and crying. It was easier than to control her. The older I grew, the more anger I…”

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