Can bullying cause a fear of intimacy?
Can childhood bullying cause a fear of sex or intimacy? I was harassed by two older siblings, so much so, that I have a deep fear of being abused in a relationship, even sexually. I was not sexually abused but the bullying was so persistent that I was not allowed to ask for anything for myself in the family. The sad thing is that my siblings are only 2 and 3 years older than me but whatever they did, I simply felt humiliated. Needless to say I don t see them these days. They were both very controlling of me even to the distress of my father. They ignored and dismissed him as he tried to reason with them. They reacted aggressively towards him too if he tried to protect me. I was the third and youngest. Our mother had died some years before.
