(by Linda C J Turner)

Most people think abuse leaves only emotional scars.
They have no idea it physically reshapes the brain.

Twelve years ago, an MRI scan showed hippocampal shrinkage — the part of the brain responsible for memory, emotional processing, and learning.
My doctor in France pointed it out clearly:
a visible sign of long-term trauma.

At the time, I didn’t understand the full meaning.
But now I do.

Hippocampal shrinkage means:

• memory becomes fragmented
• thought processes become foggy
• self-doubt becomes constant
• recalling events becomes confusing
• survivors second-guess themselves for years

And the cruelest part?

The person who caused the damage mocked me for it.

He refused to answer questions.
Every conflict ended with silence, stonewalling, and punishment.
Days of grey-rocking.
Isolation.
Being told to stay away.
Being told not to approach.
And when he finally decided to speak, it was always the same line:

“You’re guessing. You don’t know. You’ll never know.”

That phrase… repeated over decades…
rewired my brain more than any single traumatic event.

Yes — his voice became the voice in my head.
Yes — every dismissive comment left a neurological mark.
Yes — chronic emotional abuse creates the same brain changes seen in prolonged combat stress.

I have the scans.
I have the symptoms.
I have the lived proof.

Headaches.
Blurry vision.
Cognitive exhaustion.
Years of confusion I could never explain.

But here’s the truth I want every survivor to hear:

The brain can heal.

Slowly.
Deliberately.
With the right support.

And I am a work in progress —
finally moving in the right direction.

Next week, I reach a major milestone.
I begin intensive therapy designed to help my hippocampus recover, alongside the deep emotional healing I’ve already done.

Trauma changed my brain.
Healing is changing it back.

If you’re reading this and you’ve lived something similar:
You’re not broken.
You’re not imagining it.
You’re not “too sensitive.”
You’re not dramatic.

You are a survivor whose brain did what it needed to do to cope.

And you, too, can rebuild.