" The mistreated and neglected child is completely alone in the darkness of confusion and fear. Surrounded by arrogance and hatred, robbed of her rights and her speech, deceived in her love and her trust, disregarded, humiliated, mocked in her pain, such a child is blind, lost, and pitilessly exposed to the power of ignorant adults. She is without orientation and completely defenseless. Her whole being would like to shout out her anger, give voice to her feeling of outrage, call for help. But that is exactly what she may not do. All her normal reactions, the reactions with which nature has endowed her to help her survive, remain blocked. If no witness comes to her aid, these natural reactions would enlarge and prolong the child's sufferings. Ultimately, the child could die from them. "

― Alice Miller , Breaking Down the Wall of Silence: The Liberating Experience of Facing Painful Truth