TW: Being abused
Not sure if this is a good place to ask but I couldn't find another forum which would take this seriously. I was at school as was abused for like 5 seconds from someone else. I haven't told my mum as she would freak out and jump to conclusions saying I'm being bullied or whatever which I'm not. I looked it up and it says there is potential permanent damage after just seconds so now I'm scared. I don't really want to tell anyone because everyone I know would just jump to conclusions. What should I do? I can't get it off my mind and can't sleep but maybe it'll just go away in time? I just don't want any permanent damage.
Comments
Welcome to the forums @Username12321. 
I'm so sorry about your experience. 😞 Nobody deserves abuse.
I don't have much to add that hasn't already been suggested, but I just wanted to send you a big virtual hug.
How are you doing today?
Thanks for the support guys and I just want to give an update as to how in feeling. So I told my parents but said I accidentally got hit by someone's arm instead and went to the doctor. He's since referred me to an ENT as it's taking longer than expected to heal. The physical symptoms are less noticeable but are still there and especially noticeable at night when I am lying in bed and the occasional headaches. Anyway I'm feeling a lot better mentally and can hopefully move past this without any physical damage. 🙂
@Username12321 Well done for telling your parents! That must have taken a lot of courage.
I hope that the ENT can help and that your symptoms can improve.
I'm glad that you're feeling better. 🙂
Just wanted to check in and see how you are feeling this week? We are thinking of you
Hey there @Username12321
Thanks for giving us an update on how you're feeling 🙂 I'm happy to hear that you told your parents that you were experiencing some pain. I hope the physical symptoms continue to become less noticeable
It's great that you're feeling mentally better, we're really happy to hear that!
Hi @Username12321, thank you for sharing that with us, it must have been so difficult to get that out there. We are so happy you have found our forum as our community are here to listen and support you. It must have been such a frightening experience for you. I am so sorry that this is something you have had to go through alone 
Are you attending school tomorrow? If so, is this person likely to be there? If you are worried that the abuse might happen again, we would encourage you to let either your parents or the school know. This is so that they can keep on eye on you and provide you with any support that you need. I know you are cautious of people overreacting, although you deserve to be safe and happy at school.
Just so you know, I had to edit some details of your post as it contained graphic details about the abuse you experienced. We have a list of our guidelines that you can read here. Our guidelines also detail that we are a peer based support service, meaning that our community is unable to offer any medical advice. I know you feel worried about telling your parents which is quite a common concern for a lot of people, especially going through something so tough. Despite this, we do encourage you to seek medical attention (either alone or with your parents) if you are concerned about permanent damage. Your GP or emergency department is the best place to get yourself checked out The first page of the guidelines also explains how we are mandatory reporters meaning that we are required to report past, current and future risk of abuse to any young person. We want you to understand this so that you can make informed choices about what you share online with ReachOut. What this person has done may also be considered an offence and therefore it may be worth reporting it to the police, if you want to/feel comfortable doing so. This is not something you should have to go through at school.
This experience sounds like it has been having a massive impact on you. If you need immediate support or want to talk this through, we recommend services like Kids Helpline. They provide telephone and web counselling as well as amazing referrals. If you feel more comfortable talking face to face, you can always ask to speak to the student counsellor at your school. Please let us know how you are travelling
Hi thanks for the considerate replies and I may have blown the situation out of proportion a little bit (as I was highly emotional when I wrote it) It happened 2 days ago and we finished school the day after so I'm now on holidays. The person who did it is actually leaving the school so they may have been very temperamental. They basically came to out table and started to annoy me (which they have done before, although playfully - not bullying) and then I told them to go away and walked away. When I was walking away the incident occurred (first time incident) when they released after a short amount of time maybe 5 secs or less. I didn't notice any serious effects except for some difficult breathing or swallowing, which, now, 2 Mornings later are currently the only effects.
I have always felt safe at school as no one on our year group would actually want to hurt someone so I assume it was the spur of the moment. I honestly don't feel like I can tell my family as from my previous post, conclusions can be made and my parents are kind of reactive to incidents like this.
However I don't think there is permanent damage as my air way is opening up (since last night) and I really just needed to get this off my chest to someone as I haven't told anyone else this far.
Hey @Username12321
I hope you don't mind that I chime in. I've just read through your thread and I just wanted to thank you for getting this off your chest here. I also wanted to echo what @Tiny_leaf has said. You reacted in the way many people would after experiencing that kind of violence at school. School is a place you are meant to feel safe, so I just wanted to double check that you aren't coming in contact with this person in the near future?
I'm pleased to hear that you aren't experiencing any side effects now. If you notice anything though, feel free to let us know and we can talk through what to do next 🙂
@Bre-RO just btw, the title of most of the posts where changed to "being abused", I assume because of the guidelines.
The title of my first post in this thread's still the same as it was before though, should that have been changed?
Good pick up @Tiny_leaf must be a glitch because all the headings should edit automatically. I'll flag it with the digital team. Thanks!!
You definitely didn't blow it out of proportion, what happened was pretty serious, even though it wasn't part of a bigger pattern of behaviour.
I'm glad that school is safe for you though, and that you're feeling physically better.
@Username12321 no one here can provide medical unfortunately.
First thing, I'd suggest you see a GP. They'll be able to check and make sure there's no damage. If you can't access a GP, I'd suggest calling heathline, one of their nurses might be able to help.
Secondly, are you safe at school?
If this is an ongoing thing, it's really important that you get the help you need, and your safety is important.
Thirdly.. is there anyone irl who you could tell?
I know you don't want people to overreact but that kind of violence is just not acceptable, and something as serious as what happened can be a sign that things will escalate dangerously.
Telling someone about this means that they can try to make sure it won't happen again to you or anyone else.
Having something like this happen can have an impact on you emotionally as well as physically, so I'm just wondering how you're coping after this?
We're here if you need any support.
