--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Children who have been very sadistically…" description: "\"Children who have been very sadistically abused over the long-term are able to dissociate, some of them are able to dissociate as a way of surviving an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/gloria-steinem-277_able_children-who-have-been-very-sadistically_1617483.jpg" --- # Children who have been very sadistically abused over the… ![“Children who have been very sadistically abused over the long-term are able to dissociate, some of them are able to dissociate as a way of surviving and inventing someone to whom this doesn't happen. And so therefore, they invent within themselves different personalities who have life histories of…” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/gloria-steinem-277_able_children-who-have-been-very-sadistically_1617483.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/gloria-steinem-277_able_children-who-have-been-very-sadistically_1617483.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/gloria-steinem-277_able_children-who-have-been-very-sadistically_1617483.jpg) > “Children who have been very sadistically abused over the long-term are able to dissociate, some of them are able to dissociate as a way of surviving and inventing someone to whom this doesn't happen. And so therefore, they invent within themselves different personalities who have life histories of their own. Many people invent an opposite gender personality as well.” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Long‑term severe abuse can cause dissociation, leading some survivors to create alternate personalities, sometimes of a different gender, as a coping mechanism. **In simple terms:** Abuse can cause people to split their mind into different selves to survive. Key Takeaway Support survivors; recognize coping strategies. Themes trauma identity survival Mood empathetic reflective serious Type clinical psychological When to use this quote - therapy - support groups - clinical assessment - personal narratives Key Concepts Dissociation personality fragmentation Questions to Reflect On - How can we safely support those with dissociative identities? - What role does gender play in these invented selves? A Different Perspective Alternate identities may mask underlying pain and need professional help. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Different personalities](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/different-personalities/) [Gender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gender/) [Inventing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inventing/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Long term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-term/) [Opposites](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/opposites/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Personality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/personality/) [Surviving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surviving/) ## Related quotes > [To dissociate the child from love is, for our species, a methodological error: contraception, which is to make love without making a child; artificial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-lejeune/to-dissociate-the-child-from-love-is-for-our-species-a-methodological/) [Jerome Lejeune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-lejeune/) > [“But as much as this is a soldier's reason d'etre, it is not often that you hear a soldier explicitly talk about 'killing'. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jake-wood/but-as-much-as-this-is-a-soldier-s-reason-d-etre-it-is-not-often-that/) [Jake Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jake-wood/) > [“if zombies eat a family member, you're gonna dissociate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-sheridan/if-zombies-eat-a-family-member-you-re-gonna-dissociate/) [Sam Sheridan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-sheridan/) > [Everyone else went to drama school, and that teaches you how to dissociate from your character. I don't know any technique! I'm just acting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esme-creed-miles/everyone-else-went-to-drama-school-and-that-teaches-you-how-to/) [Esme Creed-Miles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esme-creed-miles/) > [I like to dissociate myself from the person I was even three hours ago. It's a natural requirement to be a writer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/varun-grover/i-like-to-dissociate-myself-from-the-person-i-was-even-three-hours/) [Varun Grover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/varun-grover/) > [Part of being a psychopath is an ability to dissociate from one reality and create another one, completely.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/part-of-being-a-psychopath-is-an-ability-to-dissociate-from-one/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [“A refusal on the part of psychiatrists and therapists to validate the horrors of their patients' tortured past implies a refusal to take seriously…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-de-zulueta/a-refusal-on-the-part-of-psychiatrists-and-therapists-to-validate-the/) Felicity De Zulueta > [“Treating Abuse Today (Tat), 3(4), pp. 26-33 Freyd: I see what you're saying but people in psychology don't have a uniform agreement on this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-l-calof/treating-abuse-today-tat-3-4-pp-26-33-freyd-i-see-what-you-re-saying/) [David L. Calof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-l-calof/) > [Whatever it is, if you draw, you paint, you're a carpenter, you play football, the more you do it, you're a journalist, the more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-sizemore/whatever-it-is-if-you-draw-you-paint-you-re-a-carpenter-you-play/) [Tom Sizemore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-sizemore/) > [ We've known each other \[in Motorpsycho \] since 1985 or '86, are really different as personalities, and yet have actually never disagreed to any… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bent-saether/we-ve-known-each-other-in-motorpsycho-since-1985-or-86-are-really/) [Bent Saether](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bent-saether/) > [I'm able to take on different personalities depending on what image I am going for. I think getting into character of what you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-paulina-luna/i-m-able-to-take-on-different-personalities-depending-on-what-image-i/) [Anna Paulina Luna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-paulina-luna/) > [We have very similar brains. But they come out in different personalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-berryman/we-have-very-similar-brains-but-they-come-out-in-different/) [Guy Berryman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-berryman/) > [All the teams you have have different personalities, and you kind of want it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calipari/all-the-teams-you-have-have-different-personalities-and-you-kind-of/) [John Calipari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calipari/) > [I mean the cool thing about the movies is that you get to try on these different personalities and different styles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-burns/i-mean-the-cool-thing-about-the-movies-is-that-you-get-to-try-on/) [Edward Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-burns/) > [I have two little kids, and they both came out completely different, with their own personalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nigel-barker/i-have-two-little-kids-and-they-both-came-out-completely-different/) [Nigel Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nigel-barker/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. 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I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. 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