well outside of being sorta sexually molested by my best girl friends dad in high school a few times, and some close calls over the years, when the word abuse is spoken i can only really think of the time i went to meet an online dom a few yrs ago before i hooked up with my now owner and husband,, it turned into 3 months of pure living hell:to say the least without going into gory details, it took six months of different surguries and another six months of agoraphobia before i was able to even think about sex again let alone bdsm,, obviously ive managed to cope and adjust, heck some would even say thrive, but it took lots of hard work and dedication, heck this site is even part of my therapy, a very big part at that, i would say abuse in general effects on many levels some we may not even be consious of, and as overwhelming as an abussive past may seem, it can (and i am proof of it) be overcome