Cover image for Scared selfless : my journey from abuse and madness to surviving and thriving / Michelle Stevens.
TITLE:
Scared selfless : my journey from abuse and madness to surviving and thriving / Michelle Stevens.
Publication Date:
2017
Publication Information:
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons,
Physical Description:
292 p.
Bibliography Note:
Includes bibliographical references.
Summary:
Michelle Stevens has a photo of the exact moment her childhood was stolen from her. In it, she's only eight years old and posing for her mother's beguiling boyfriend, Gary Lundquist - an elementary school teacher, neighborhood stalwart, and brutal pedophile. Later that night, Gary locks Michelle in a cage, tortures her repeatedly, and uses her to quench his voracious and deviant sexual whims. Michelle can also pinpoint the moment she reconstituted the splintered pieces of her life. Just a few years after being confined to a mental hospital and at the mercy of an alternate personality who kept trolling for sadistic men, she's in cap and gown receiving her Ph.D. in psychology. The improbable journey from torture, loss, and mental illness to recovery that is Michelle Stevens's powerful memoir. Gary Lundquist kept Michelle as his sex slave for six years. During that time, he waged a campaign of unimaginable cruelty. He pimped her out to countless men for prostitution and forced her to perform in 'kiddie porn'. It took fifteen years, three hospitalizations, and multiple suicide attempts for Michelle to work through Gary's dark legacy. She suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, depression, and developed multiple personalities. Her story sheds light on the all-too-real threat of child sexual abuse and the psychological effects on its victims. An examination at the extraordinary feats of the mind in the face of unspeakably horrifying trauma and the story of Michelle's courageous road to healing, recovery, and triumph.
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780399173387