The experience of being violated is often so overwhelming and annihilating, particularly for children, that the only way to survive it is for victims to leave their bodies. Not fight or flight, but complete dissociation. If the abuser happens to be a caregiver, someone who is supposed to be safe and loving, the experience of shutdown can be even more dramatic and far-reaching. What we can’t bear to know or feel, we often find a way to hide from ourselves, and hide well.
