Third of a Lifetime

I am Sarah E. Olson, author of Becoming One: A Story of Triumph Over Multiple Personality Disorder, available in paperback, and soon, in a Kindle Edition. I am a survivor of child sexual abuse, have been involved with online support groups for survivors since 1993, and was founder of The Survivors Forum on CompuServe (which was eventually pulled from service by AOL).

I am curator of the Dissociation Blog Showcase, an index of currently about 180 blogs written by people who discuss some aspect of dissociation from personal experience. Coming soon, a section for trauma therapists who add to the conversation about dissociation through their own blogs. I also anticipate adding a space for dissociation-related information sites that are not blogs, per se.

Every Friday, I post “Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors”, a compilation of the best mental health resources that crossed my Twitter feed during that week. At the end of 2010, I created three static indexed blog pages of the Best PTSD Resources of 2010. You can find them here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. They are also permanently linked in a special menu section of the sidebar.

To listen to my recent radio interview on HealthyPlace.com’s BlogTalkRadio, subject: “Dissociative Identity Disorder: After Integration” click on the embedded player below:

The phrase “Third of a Lifetime” was borne of a three year period of darkness following the collapse of my integration in 2000 after my father died. My therapist, Howard Asher, worked overtime to keep me precariously stable. One thing he said occasionally that got my attention every time: “You’re approaching 50 years of age. In the great scheme of things, you may have a third of a lifetime left to live. How do you wish to spend it?”

So much of my life was willfully squandered by my abusers, by their direct damage inflicted; and by the long struggle required to make sense of who I really am, and how I got to this place. What I know for certain now is: my final third of a lifetime will not be surrendered to those abusers.

Thank you for reading, and for being here.

Sarah