Self-esteem, confidence and self-worth are all issues that can be experienced by an individual who has experienced Emotional Abuse. Emotional abuse leaves scars that cannot been seen along with struggles that are not visible to others. Individuals that experience this form of abuse have been in relationships either with spouses, friends, relatives, or family members. Forms of this abuse can be:
- Humiliation
- Criticism
- Degradation
- Controlling and/or dominant behaviors
- Unreasonable demands and expectations
- Emotional abandonment or neglect
- Disrespect of individuality and boundaries
**** Emotional abuse can lead to PTSD, anxiety and depression.
One topic that we discussed in group was body image. Body image is a factor that can impact a relationship for some people. Whether the problem is being overweight, too small, body deformation, unhappy with body image in general, each of these factors and many more can lead to conflict within a relationship.
Emotional abusers can make a person feel like there is a problem with yourself rather than either the abuser or your relationship in general. Body image is one factor that an abuser will project upon an individual as being something wrong. If an abuser sees that this is one way that they can inflict harm on a person, they will take it to many different levels. What we all have to learn is when an abuser does this is that we set boundaries, and work on ways to regain our own self-esteem and confidence.
Statements that truly stood out from support group were: honor your own strengths. Nurture your strengths allowing them to bloom and see your own value.
We all need to know that emotional abuse is difficult to see, and difficult for some people to express that they have been abused. What we need to remember is that no matter what a person says, does, or feels about you none of that is important. What is important is finding the love within yourself to regain that self-confidence, self-esteem and self-worth and learning to live your life for yourself.
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