Stop Child Abuse Now (SCAN) - 1361

Tonight's special guest is Benjamin (Ben) Zibit, PhD in the History of Science (rocketry), a survivor of a horrible childhood and a difficult life and a writer who has taught for more than 30 years. He's started his healing journey and wants to speak out publicly about child abuse and PTSD. He says "I have two selves. I want to be one whole person. I want to speak out about abuse and PTSD. It’s very difficult to do so. But this is a first step." Ben grew up in a very dysfunctional family, and lived in at least six different cities. The worst of the sexual and physical abuse he experienced happened as a youngster in Florida. He spent his teen years in St. Louis, and was sexually abused, physically threatened and humiliated there well into high school. "By then, I was completely shut down," Ben says. "I had a few friends." He escaped home by going to college. "I was ambivalent about leaving home. When I'd finally left, I still buried what had happened to me." Ben's adult life included advanced university studies, visits to psychiatric facilities, therapy of different types and exploring relationships with various women. He also bounced from place to place, job to job to job, and was even homeless for a time. His current wife has never really accepted the truth about his abuse. "This has been a deep wound for me," Ben says, but he's hung in there for the sake of their two kids. He concludes, "I've had a horrible childhood and a difficult life. I am not ‘cured’ or over this yet. Will it last my whole life? I don't know. I will always have PTSD. How much it affects me in the future, I can't say. It depends on the success of therapy. I have two selves. I want to be one whole person. I want to speak out about abuse and PTSD."