Strength

I met a woman this year who has to be the strongest woman I have ever met. Her story will be airing on the Discovery Channel on May 3 at 8 PM. She suffered extreme abuse as a child and developed Dissociative Identity Disorder (formerly Multi-personality disorder) as a result. I am not an expert in this disorder but do understand that it is a survival mechanism for young children who experience severe physical, sexual and emotional abuse. The children cannot escape the abuse physically so they escape emotionally by becoming someone else or leaving mentally. The disorder can continue to effect them as throughout life but they can recover with help from professionals.

Just the thought of children surviving such horrific situations that these people go through is amazing. I listened to her talk yesterday and thought about other children I know. There strength and resilience is amazing and something I only wish I had. The next time you meet a child who as foster or former foster labels attached to them, remember how much these children have come through. Some of them have more behavioral or mental health effects than others but they are all extremely brave and strong to just survive what they have experienced. My prayers go out to all of them and the caring adults trying to love and help these children heal.