I can't say that abuse has affected me in anyway because I was never abused at all. I am not sure there is such a simple cause and effect relationship between childhood stimuli and adult psychology. Certainly not as simple as some may make out. The old bugbear of the the 'nature/nurture' debate rears its ugly head once more and makes anyone who has studied psychology groan as it seems to be a debate that can never be resolved. Well, not so long as many of those who insist on arguing it insist that there is an answer which satisfies one of the polar opposites.

We are all genetically predisposed to certain behaviours but we sometimes need an external, environmental stimulus to make us realise that fact. Nature and nurture conspire to create an individual who is complex and intricate and which really should not be so readily defined.

On the subject of abuse: this is a delicate subject and one which needs to be approached with sensitivity. However, I think what it does to your psychology is not so much the fact that it happened at all but rather a combination of intrinsic tendencies and how you react to it having happened.