THE UNHEARD

TRIGGER WARNING- THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT, AND MAY CAUSE TRIGGERS THOSE WITH ABUSE HISTORY AND PTSD. 

Alex Marie Igo AKA Ali describes herself as a Yogi, Hippie, Mother, Wife, Blogger, Dancer, Plant lover, Pet Mom, Win lover, Painter, and an overall Happy Camper.

Ali gets personal in her blog when she opens up about her trauma with her past, her struggle with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and how her journey to recovery started through Yoga.

“Laying there. Bowed over my leg, all I could think was, I’m actually doing something nice for myself. I’m finally doing somthing good. I had probably 15 years of internal and external negative dialog. Here was somthing simple. Free. Right here, that I could do for myself. It felt nice to talk and to think nicely of myself, instead of negativity.”

Click to Read More…

Meet Jess Shipman

Jess starts us off with a story about what led her to wanting to take her own life.

*Trigger Warning*

“I used to think that I needed to be perfect, and being perfect meant that I wasn’t allowed to struggle or feel pain. I knew that I couldn’t ever measure up to the standards I set for myself or the ones society set for me, so I hid what I was feeling from everyone, even my family and closest friends. I hid my struggles with depression, anxiety, self-injury and suicidal thoughts for years, and I pretended to be happy, so no one would suspect a thing.” 

In Fairy tales and Monsters. (Part 1- Aspergers), Jess explains to us what it’s like to have Aspergers Syndrome and ways you can help others with Aspergers Syndrome feel more understood.

In, I Didn’t “Ask For It” , she writes to a man who sexually assaulted her and was talked out of pressing charges because she was told that she was “Asking For It.”

“Shame and I are on a first name basis. This one doesn’t seem to positive, does it? However, we can’t talk about rape without talking about shame. There are so many people that shame victims of sexual assault. The greatest shame, for me, came from within myself. I am still, 2 years later, dealing with the shame. From the dozens of showers that I compulsively took in the first days after the rape to the spiral of thoughts I feel when someone new learns that I am a rape survivor—shame has permeated my journey. In fact, it has taken me years of thinking of writing this letter to actually do so because shame has always talked me out of it. It is exhausting. I am bringing my shame, the shame that I have no reason as a victim to feel, into the light.”

If you want to help… Listen. READ MORE: RAINBOW RIBBONS

TRIGGER WARNING- THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS ADULT CONTENT, AND MAY CAUSE TRIGGERS THOSE WITH ABUSE HISTORY AND PTSD. 

She-Jitsu’s first Unheard Story features a professional writer and Jiu-jitsu Practioner, Marnie Vinge.

Marnie is a sexual assault survivor who speaks her truth about her struggles 9 years later and her battle with PTSD & mental illness.

She writes, “My loved ones have accepted it, but they don’t want to talk about it. They say, “I’m here for you,” but flinch and go deer-in-the-headlights on me when I speak the truth about how I feel.”

Marnie does not sugar coat things. The  story she tells is ugly and painful. It’s messy. It’s uncomfortable. It needs to be heard.

Click HERE to hear her story.