Stephanie Soo

It's not like you can avoid the threat any longer.

This is your caregiver that's abusing you.

You don't have a choice.

You don't have, not that anyone who is abused has a choice, but like it's harder to do threat assessments as a child versus an adult.

If I go to the grocery store and I get whacked, and this is like obviously a much simplistic analogy that has no... I don't want anyone to think that I'm comparing the severity of SA or anything like that.

But if I go to the grocery store and I get hit with a cart...

I'm going to remember that as an adult because I don't want to get hit with a card again.

But as a child, I mean, that's why children are so reckless with their bodies sometimes because there's less of a threat assessment that can be done when you're that young.

And so she's saying, if you were abused as a child, your brain might not remember it and keep it at the forefront of your memory because there's no way for you to avoid that threat next time.

Whereas an adult, you may feel like you could try to avoid it.

Again, not saying that SA is avoidable by any means.

Your brain might try to think that it is.

I mean, these kids are dependent on the ones that are harming them, which means they may adapt.

This allows the child to fake security in their parental relationships, maintain that relationship that is necessary for survival.

It's almost betrayal blindness.

That's what she calls it.

Also, it can be argued by those with repressed memories that, yes, the memory formation is there.

I mean, clearly the memory is there.

It's not like it disappeared.

It's not like you didn't form the memory.