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Trauma and recovery cracked 91ƵWide Open91Ƶ in new memoir by B.C. author

B.C. author D.M. Ditson writes about assault and the journey to recovery
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Wide Open is a memoir that tackles one woman91Ƶs journey through sexual assault and recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder.

B.C. author D.M. Ditson shared a little about her journey, her book, and what she hopes to achieve through the telling of her story. Wide Open is a raw and emotional account of how she became vulnerable to assault, the depths to which she fell, and of her excruciating recovery from post-traumatic stress disorder.

During her darkest days, Ditson searched for stories of people who had gone through something similar and made it out the other side. She found memoirs of survivors who wrote about what happened, but not how they found normalcy and healing in their life again.

91ƵI wanted to see somebody else91Ƶs map of how they got better so I could know that I could get better too. And that91Ƶs what I ended up writing,91Ƶ she says.

The story chronicles her journey to recovery. Once she started to work on getting better, she felt she had no choice but to push through.

91ƵI was in dreadful, dreadful shape,91Ƶ she recalls. When she began to focus on healing her mental state, her body reacted in strange and disruptive ways, such as uncontrollable shaking legs every single day for more than three years.

91ƵThere were some nights where it lasted forever, where I don91Ƶt even know if I even slept at all,91Ƶ Ditson recalls.

Ditson ended up quitting her job and spent 14 months doing nothing but focusing on her recovery.

91ƵI remember going to my therapist and asking, 91Ƶwhy aren91Ƶt I better yet? Why is this taking so long? Why is all this weird stuff happening to me91Ƶ?,91Ƶ Ditson recounts. 91ƵShe told me there91Ƶs no timeline on how long it takes. It just takes as long as it takes.91Ƶ

She found meditation helpful, as well as writing. She wrote the book while she was in the process of healing. Earlier on, before she worked out her recovery, she would write about the assaults, then destroy the pages. One time, she tried flushing her diary entries into the toilet. Another time, she burned and buried them in the backyard.

91ƵIt was all these secrets I was trying to keep even from myself. And the more I kept them from myself, the more it made me unwell,91Ƶ she explains.

Part of her healing process was taking these secrets and letting them out. She shared with a few people and found in their response a compassion and empathy she had not expected. That was a pivotal moment for Ditson as she worked to heal.

91ƵI thought, 91ƵOK, I91Ƶm going to sit down and I91Ƶm going to write more of this. I91Ƶm going to let more of my secrets out, because apparently they91Ƶre not so dark that they91Ƶre going to make everyone hate me91Ƶ.91Ƶ

Ditson wrote the book to document her own recovery, and to hopefully help others. She wants survivors, loved ones of survivors, and anyone struggling with mental health to read it and see there is hope.

91ƵIt91Ƶs so difficult to get better. I just wanted to show that 91Ƶyes, you can91Ƶ,91Ƶ she explains. 91ƵI hope it helps people see each other with more empathy.91Ƶ

After the sexual assaults, trauma, and lengthy recovery process, Ditson has come out the other side. She feels whole, healed, and happy now, adding it is important that people know that full recovery is possible.

91ƵPeople who haven91Ƶt gone through this kind of upheaval don91Ƶt necessarily live their life specifically by design. And in having exploded my previous life, I got to choose exactly what I wanted in my new one,91Ƶ she says.

Ditson shares a story of the moment she realized she was healed, when this chapter of her life could close. It was a year and a half ago. She was staying in Fernie and desperately wanted to climb a mountain. The first time she tried, she was turned back by a park ranger who said the trail was decommissioned. She tried again, this time urged to turn back by another person who said the trail ahead was too hard. Finally on the third attempt, she got three quarters of the way up before encountering a young man coming down the mountain. He told her it was so treacherous, he turned back just shy of the summit.

But she kept climbing. She had to reach the peak of the mountain this time.

91ƵIt was steep, and super hard. By the end I started rock climbing,91Ƶ she says. But, she finally reached the top.

91ƵIt felt then like I was on the other side (of my recovery),91Ƶ she said. She surveyed the view: stretched out before her was a picture of spring 91Ƶ everything was new and fresh, a totally separate season than the summery mountain behind her. And she knew then. She was healed.

It has been five years since Ms. Ditson started writing her memoir. It is available for pre-sale now. For more details, visit .





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