The silent epidemic

It exists, hidden away and spoken about in hushed and ashamed tones. Victims and their families are torn apart and left devastated. Its more common than one realises and its becoming a rising phenomenon in today's society, aggravated by the stresses of daily living. Sometimes it results in murder!

Spousal abuse.

You might think - yeah right! But sadly I am in the midst of a case where a good friend is being terrorised by her soon to be ex but unstable husband. Its bad enough that he was the one who initiated the divorce by suddenly walking out on her and the children, but to then emotionally and verbally torture her when she doesn't give in to his irrational demands, is beyond me.

I am caught in the middle of this, as I am friends with both parties, and even though I have told them both that I am not taking sides, it hasn't prevented me from being swept up in the emotional maelstrom around them. What really guts me is that the kids are being so badly affected, the boy is bottling it all up and just keeping quiet, while the girl is siding with her Dad and becoming abusive and out of control to the mother.

Meanwhile I am left to watch from the sidelines and pick up the pieces when it starts to fall apart, which its doing right now.

I am stressed beyond belief, and true to type,have reverted to chemicals to make me calmer and more able to cope. Its bad enough that work sucks so badly, but this as well, makes it hard to cope!