Mark's personal story

I am a forty year old man and I grew up in a family where my mother was physically, emotionally and psychologically abusive. Every day of our lives as kids was spent in fear of what events would occur that day. My father was a gentle man and was stabbed one time, hit over the head with a brick in which it fractured his skull, chased down the street with a knife, plates thrown at him, yelling screaming constantly and the list goes on and on.

I personally as a young boy was hit on a regular basis with a golf club, baseball bat and anything else she could find at the time. I was a shy child and in grade four developed hyperhidrosis (profuse sweating) and an extreme fear of being attacked. I wouldn't speak and would lock myself in my room to avoid my mother. I grew up in constant fear and terror of the next time the violence would turn towards me instead of someone else in my family.

My baby sister continually wet the bed all through primary school, my eldest brother became heavily involved in drugs in order to ease the pain and my eldest sister has never recovered. My father passed away of a heart attack at an early age and I have attended many years of continual counselling. I don't believe I will ever fully recover yet over the years I have built a strong resilience through continual study and male mentors that have helped me in ways I could never fully express.