Recent email to local paper 06:01, 2006-Jul-1

Dear sir/Madam,

I would like to talk with someone who may be willing to listen to my
situation.

I am a local small business operator who for the past 3 4 or more years
has been attempting to deal with my childhood abuse by a visiting priest.

I have been seeing a local psychologist for 1 or 2 years and have been
dealing with the Commission into sexual abuse in Melbourne in this regard.

Recently I have been put on anti-depressants due to a number of things
including blank periods, depression and possibly PTSD.

It is with the help of those that I have just started to be able to see
a better picture of the position I am in and that position is one where
I am in need of help in a number of areas.

I will try to bullet point a number of issues of which I believe the
Australian public should be aware of in regards the way abuse victims
are treated and to try to document a little of my own current position.

I have a great deal of documentation which I am prepared to work through
with in order to get this story out. My motivation is simply to be able
to continue to survive both emotionally and financially, for my family
to survive and hopefully for my business to survive until this process
is finished and to bring to the attention of people the extent of the
situation, the damage, financial costs on families and the failures of
the systems that have supposedly been set in place to assist or deal
with these issues.

I believe my story is unique in its own nuances, however it is not
unique in the world of those who have experienced childhood abuse.

My story can document from my initial contact with Centre Care several
years ago through to my current position today, it can also document my
own journey and some of the issues this has brought with it.

Personally I would have preferred to remain anonymous or unknown in this
regard, however circumstances are such that I can no longer afford that
and with the help of the medication I feel I may have the strength to
bring this to the attention of people and to obtain some help in those
areas which I find I am unable to manage at the moment.