You might be suffering the consequences of long term abuse if:
you feel uncomfortable taking credit for things you did
you feel uncomfortable being praised or complimented, and you feel like sudden expectation or blackmail are coming up afterwards, you need to find intentions behind praise
someone getting mad at you is absolutely terrifying and you’ll do anything to avoid it
you don’t ever feel it’s safe to stand up for yourself, you can predict that even if you did that, ultimately you’d only be punished and hurt even worse, and you can’t risk it
you always analyze every situation with „am I bothering these people? Is my presence a burden to everyone?“ even when you’re with friends or at a place where you were invited
you don’t feel like a part of anything, not your family or your peer group, you worry everyone is going to figure out that you’re out of line trying to pretend to be a part of their group and reject you
you worry that you have no value to anyone and you feel like you need to deserve to be a part of society
you feel inexplicably ashamed of yourself, there are so many situations you can’t talk about, or even think about without feeling overwhelming shame
you keep feeling everything bad that happens is your fault, even for things that aren’t related to you directly, you feel responsible and like you should have done something to prevent it
you feel like everything would be better if only you didn’t exist
you struggled with suicidal thoughts before (or still struggle with them)
you feel like anyone who hurts you is justified in doing so and you deserve to be hurt
you’re terrified of being punished for anything you do, and don’t do, to the point where you paralyze and can’t do things you’re supposed to do at times, because you can’t tell if it’s going to end up in you suffering punishment
you don’t feel comfortable being touched or cuddled, you feel like it makes you weak if you desire it
you don’t feel okay showing big emotions in front of anyone, you feel your feelings in secret, or not at all
nobody knows just in how much pain you are. You don’t show it.
you can tell that even if you did talk to someone about your problems, you’d be accused of exaggerating, asking for attention, faking it, or being weak for not controlling your emotions better
you feel like the dream of a good life, where you’re loved and happy and cherished, is something completely unrealistic and it feels silly to even imagine it, it’s out of reach for you
If it’s only a few you can relate to, they can be caused by outside factors, but if you relate to almost all of these, it’s likely you’ve been living in a situation that is unbearable for human being without severely affecting their personality and mental health. Abuse can cause all of this, and these are not little things, this is lowered quality of life.
“Cause we said no strings attached and I still got tied up in that”
— Drake /// The Motion
Can we please stop associating being a good person with how much you're willing to suffer in silence for other people? You can be a kind person and still say "no, I don't have the time/energy to help you with that." You can be a kind person and still say "this makes me uncomfortable, please stop." You can be a kind person and still say "I disagree and here's why." You can be kind and still say "I'm not okay with this." Being kind is about treating people with kindness and respect, not about being the human equivalent of a doormat!
Okay controversy will come from this, but don’t tell your kids that they are eating too much unless they have to restrict their intake for some medical reason.
A kid will go back to refil their dinner plate and I’ll hear parents say “don’t you think that’s enough dinner for tonight?” Or “you shouldn’t eat that much food.”
Telling your kid that they’ve had too much food, or they shouldn’t eat that much can contribute to an eating disorder later in life.
Kids don’t go to refill their plates for fun, they do it because they are still hungry. They’re growing people! They need lots of food!
I want you to understand how chaotic, loud and inhuman my brain is,
But my darling, I wouldn't want to make you feel so insane.
“I was driving home today as I passed by all the places we used to go together. It was in the midst of our bittersweet memories when I realized I took you to all my favorite places. All my favorite places that I can never return to again.”
— Everything reminds me of you
“I don’t know where stand with you. And I don’t know what I mean to you. All I know is every time I think of you, I want to be with you.”
—
“You are not hard to love. It is so easy to love you. When I look at you, all I can feel is love.”
— Who ever made you think loving you was hard?
Abuser: Yells at me about how I’m immature or “too old” to be doing x thing
Me: But it’s okay for you, a grown adult, to throw tantrums, slam things, and yell at me about stupid and miniscule bullshit?
Everything seems to be so hard. A blog about feelings, poetry, mental health and past trauma experiences and about living with it.
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