{"id":23427,"date":"2022-06-22T11:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-06-22T10:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alliance-scotland.org.uk\/?post_type=humans_of_scotland&p=23427"},"modified":"2023-08-15T11:56:26","modified_gmt":"2023-08-15T10:56:26","slug":"blairs-story-part-four-life-after-conversion-therapy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alliance-scotland.org.uk\/humansofscotland\/blairs-story-part-four-life-after-conversion-therapy\/","title":{"rendered":"Blair’s story- part four: life after conversion therapy"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I eventually realised that this is actually fundamentally wrong, and I was being abused by someone who was supposed to give me care. Later I had the name to call it conversion therapy. I was suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). I was suicidal and unwell again, and I didn\u2019t want it all to be a waste, and so I started the process of cutting ties, and getting distance from my family.<\/p>\n

There came a point just before the pandemic where I thought I am not actually gaining anything from a relationship with my family, all I am getting is harassment and abuse. I realised they weren\u2019t going to look after me, so I had to look after myself. I\u2019ve been totally independent and estranged and haven\u2019t spoken to them for two and a half years.<\/p>\n

I think I\u2019m quite well now, I\u2019m not fine, I\u2019m not healthy, but I am in a position where I\u2019m in control of my CPTSD. I\u2019m on quite a lot of medication to manage it. The periods between medications have been hell, I have nightmares, I wake up screaming and sweating. I\u2019m exhausted. I still have trauma responses, but I can control them. I\u2019m not in therapy or counselling at the moment, I probably should be, but I just realistically don\u2019t think there is a service which could offer me the support I need.<\/p>\n

I wish I had known at the time, that this is not ok. I wish I had understood my rights, understood the processes better. I wish I knew my options were.<\/p>\n

What happened to me growing up shouldn’t be happening to anyone – but it is. Every day there are still countless people being forced to deny or suppress who they are, with unimaginable effects on their health and wellbeing. I’m grateful, and incredibly lucky, to have gotten out of the other side of my experience of conversion therapy and been able to rebuild a life for myself, with love and care and support.<\/p>\n

Not everyone is as lucky as that.”<\/p>\n

 <\/strong>For more information and support on the issues raised in this story, check out the Galop website.<\/a><\/p>\n

To get involved and find more information on the campaign against conversion therapy in Scotland on ECTScotland’s Twitter page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Read more Humans of Scotland stories.<\/a><\/p>\n

End of document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I eventually realised that this is actually fundamentally wrong, and I was being abused by someone who was supposed to give me care. Later I had the name to call it conversion therapy. I was suffering from complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD). I was suicidal and unwell again, and I didn\u2019t want it all to … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":23436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"25192,25182,23244,18938,16371,18054","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"hos-category":[740],"humans_tags":[486,477,523],"area_of_work":[],"strategic_priority":[],"class_list":["post-23427","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","hos-category-mental-health","humans_tags-adverse-childhood-experiences","humans_tags-anxiety","humans_tags-lgbt"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBlair's story- part four: life after conversion therapy - Humans of Scotland<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.alliance-scotland.org.uk\/humansofscotland\/blairs-story-part-four-life-after-conversion-therapy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Blair's story- part four: life after conversion therapy - Humans of Scotland\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"“I eventually realised that this is actually fundamentally wrong, and I was being abused by someone who was supposed to give me care. 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