Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 3145

Tonight's special guest is Laura West from Halifax, Nova Scotia, a child abuse survivor and now an activist and coach who was sadistically, brutally and ritualistically beaten and tortured by her older brother for the first 16 yrs of her life. Her parents blamed for Laura for the beatings. They would say “What did you do to make him so angry?” She felt like everything was her fault and had a guilty conscience for things happening outside of her control. "I was terrified of men and anyone in a position of authority as my body would prepare for war in their presence. It affected my relationships because I would make sure I wasn’t abandoned by abandoning them first." And that's not all. "It affected my work because I felt like I always did everything wrong and so I spent the majority of my life struggling to survive anyway I could. I was easily manipulated and taken advantage of as I didn’t know how to determine who to trust or how." Laura didn’t know what was wrong with her and would ask strangers, acquaintances, friends and family to analyze her and tell her what was wrong with her. "I went into debt on counsellors, therapists, psychologists, psychiatrists, life coaches, shaman, psychics, meta-physical gurus and anyone who promised relief. I was told I was depressed, anxious or manic and was prescribed drugs for depression, anxiety, and mood disorders. None of which helped me." Laura concludes, "I finally found true help through self-help books and 12 step groups explaining how my brain developed, how and why I was getting ‘hi-jacked’ when triggered. I learned life skills that I was never taught."