After a lifetime spent caring for her disabled parents, Helen had her own children, and began to suspect her mum was deliberately pretending to be unwell
She began reading her mother's 55 years’ worth of diaries after her death in 2016 and discovered her mum’s deception went far beyond anything she had imagined
She wrote My Mother, Munchausen’s, and Me in the aftermath, piecing together the truth about her parents, her childhood, and her identity
Some key points from our interview:
• How Unbroken means moving forward with happened to her without it defeating her
• How after she read her mother’s diaries, she realised that her whole childhood was founded on lies
• How it took her many years to realise that her childhood was abusive as she had been gaslit by her mother for years and it didn’t occur to her to question it
• How her mother controlled her thoughts, ran her down constantly, believing she was a failure, telling her what she liked and didn’t like- since she has developed mental health awareness.
• How her mother’s symptoms of Parkinson’s didn’t match the illness and even her Parkinson’s nurse realised she wasn’t being truthful about her condition
• How she chose to forgive her mother as she wanted to be free of her grip on her, but it’s continuous work
• How she’s determined to create the best life she can for her and her family and will love wholeheartedly and sincerely even though it terrifies her to be vulnerable
*Factitious disorder, malingering, hypochondriasis all are similar meaning terms.
www.helennaylorwriter.com
"Unbroken: Healing Through Storytelling" features individuals who have all triumphed after adversity and have not just bounced back in life, but forward and are now making a difference for others.
Hosted by Madeleine Black, the show will share stories of all the amazing people Madeleine has met on her own journey as an author/speaker and these stories will heal, motivate, inspire and bring hope when they share their wisdom and knowledge with her.
She really believes in the power that comes when we share our stories, that in fact we are not story tellers but story healers. Tune in to discover what helped them to stay unbroken and together we will discover that none of us are broken beyond repair.
You can find out more about Madeleine, her story and her memoir, Unbroken, from her website: https://madeleineblack.co.uk/
You can listen to the full extended series of incredible stories on https://www.buzzsprout.com/1386718
Watch edited highlights on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/c/MadeleineBlackUnbroken
Short of time but want to tune in?
Watch Short Vlog Versions on our You Tube Channel HERE
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