I am a different victim of rejection from society due to being fired in 1986 after I was married and then assaulted in a women’s restroom in the building
I worked. I was fired again after I gave birth to my first child upon returning from maternity leave. I was assaulted again by my mentally disturbed
brother right in front of my elderly mother and have struggled with mental illness since the assault in 1986. I’ve received medical help and understanding
from my five homeschooled kids and my husband who has come a long way in understanding my fears.
It hasn’t been a bed of roses during our 33 years of marriage even though our kids are devoted to the faith and are academically and socially successful.
There have been 10 or more hospital stays of which my main fears have been experiencing further “psychological” (partly imaginary) rejection from
normal daily activities and even my husband. There are police reports and trial records from the assaults and records from psychiatrists (some
who’ve made minor mistakes) and a Catholic therapist (not enough of them) who I finally found to be of great help about 12 years ago.
I believe I was fired in 1987 because I was trying to get locks on the bathroom doors. I believe I was fired in 1991, after my first son was born,
because I spoke up when things were astray at work, and they conveniently made my transition to another position when I returned from maternity
leave.
These situations of rejection have psychologically distorted my every day experiences at times. I’ve been diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, depression,
and later even psychosis. I’ve been on medicine my whole married life to help curtail my fears. I temped for a couple years until I realized my
whole salary was going to pay for the daycare of my two younger sons. Afterwards, we happily homeschooled the kids during their elementary and
middle school years. As a white married woman, I’ve been rejected by society in a big way.
Submitted by EM.
