- Username
- c444tmommy
- Date posted
- 4y ago
It’s very common to think this way. My best friend came from a very emotionally abusive home and had same thoughts. She finally moved out and got help for all the psychological things she has gone through. Don’t give up and believe in yourself!
I'm so happy she has someone who validates her experiences, that goes such a long way! Sound like you're a great friend to her! I know how much that is needed!
My girlfriend lives with a mother who I would consider emotionally abusive. I see her making excuses for her mom all the time. I know lots of people who’ve been through trauma and every single one of them will tell you what they went through “wasn’t that bad.” I think we just live in a society where we’re taught to invalidate our traumas and our emotional wellbeing. I’m glad you’ll be moving out though, that sounds like a good step to take.
I think making excuses can even be like a defense mechanism, maybe? Like you downplay your experience because it can be really hard to admit to yourself that what you're going through is truly trauma
@AMP2 Yeah, I guess making excuses isn’t quite right, it’s more like downplaying her trauma. But yeah I can see that. There’s such a stigma attached to trauma in society. I think sometimes she maybe doesn’t want to worry me too, like she tells me it’s ok cuz she’s used to it. I usually tell her she shouldn’t have to be used to it.
@AMP2 My therapist has this theory for me and honestly I can't tell whether it's true or not, she says that's why I've blamed myself for my choices and not being assertive when I've faced abuse and failed to let myself hold other people accountable. Years ago I actually *did* successfully access a lot of that anger but I lashed out because of it and now it feels dangerous to let myself. It usually just makes me feel guilty when I try to be balanced because it's like I'm doing something wrong and hurtful and not appreciating the good in people. So not feeling it is definitely some kind of self protective thing to avoid painful emotions and admitting how bad it is, but I think the reasons can be more complicated than just not wanting to admit to yourself that you've been seriously hurt by people.
I think I just pm-ed you on Instagram, I hope it's you 😂! If so, I'll reach there in a little more depth!
Yep. My instinct has always been to downplay and avoid getting angry and assertive, I just usually make excuses for people and talk about how they're better now? My ex, my mother etc. And it took me forever to get up the strength to leave my ex for the same reason- like I'd be being unfair and judgmental by even letting myself notice that everything was wrong let alone doing something about it. Like instant self shaming. I've been working on it, I know it's down to C-PTSD and codependency issues, and self worth where I don't feel like I have the right to be mad or upset at however I'm treated because I'm not a good person. -_-
When I was a kid I would get physically and emotionally abuse by my sister after school. I'm 20 years just told my mom accidentally and I can tell she doesn't believe me. I'm now realized how much it really affected me. That same little girl who was scared back then is the same voice as my OCD... Its like my brain forgot a lot of the memories that happened during the abuse. But I can tell you the address to the apartment each room were it was . the apartment was like a maze. I can tell you where the kitchen was and how it looked. I remember the kitchen because the front door was there I ran to it a lot but didn't seem to make it. But somehow I keep thinking and feeIing I was just too sensitive and it really wasn't that bad. I'm being over dramatic and I feel guilty and God doesn't want me to talk about it and he's mad at me for mentioning it. I just don't understand. I feel so broken and conflicted...
Anyone else’s OCD really impact their ability to trust memories or remember correctly. I’m in tears over not remembering every detail of sexual harassment that happened to me. And now I’m afraid that I’m over exaggerating for attention. I have to fight my OCD to not ask for reassurance from mother who has a perfect memory. I told her about the event straight after it occurred. I’m in so much pain right now. It feels like I’m gaslighting myself. I’ve not changed the way I’ve told the story for 3 years. So why would I be lying ? It’s just so painful to remember so I shut it down.
I was getting better for a while, and then all the sudden the fear of being a narcissist is back. I don’t know what to do anymore, as I seemed to have lost all sense of self control that I had worked so hard to get. I recently found out that my mother was emotionally abusive and neglectful to me, to the point I have a form of PTSD known as CPTSD, and people seemed to be shocked when I told them some of the things she did, and that confused me. I didn’t know or even consider the possibility she might be abusive until I saw the shock on other peoples faces. I mentioned one time where me and my sister were fighting (we are adopted) over a toy when we were little, and she got mad and locked herself in the bathroom and then proceeded to make a loud fake phone call to the judge, asking him to send people to come and get us and take us away back to our biological parents because we “didn’t want her anymore and didn’t love each other”. She made me help my sister pack a suitcase too as I cried so hard I vomited and kicked on the door and begged her to hang up because I thought she was actually calling. She made sure it was loud enough for me to hear it. She often threatened to take the car and drive away and never come back or drive it into a ditch or a lake, she’d constantly vent to me (when I was really little) about how horrible her life is or was and what happened to her (such as SA and abuse from her husband) whenever she was mad at me. She’d say very loudly how bad of a mother she is, asking why God was punishing her with this life, begging God to kill her and that she’d go to hell, call herself bad names and even hit herself. She did that a lot, threatening to call the judge or someone to take us away, telling us we weren’t grateful for her whenever we acted out like normal kids. People have told me that is abuse, and honestly part of me doesn’t believe that still. I don’t have it in me to hate her, I just can’t. I tell her everything and go to her for everything, I RELY on her for everything. I’m still coming to terms with the fact I was abused as I thought I wasn’t, or that I was spoiled and bratty. I’ve apparently (my therapist told me) developed a coping mechanism of bottling up my feelings and not expressing myself because of this, and in turn it’s made me struggle to connect with others and then I wonder if I’m capable of love because of that. My biggest fear is hurting someone, and I get so scared that I’m not capable of love because I didn’t have many people in my life that loved me or showed me what love felt like. Relationships scare me, I get scared I will hurt the person, so I often offer them multiple ways out by saying “you can leave if you want, it’s okay.” Because I genuinely want them to know that they can leave if they feel like I’m not giving them what they need. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I struggle to assert myself and will often subconsciously seek out abusive relationships because they’re comforting and apparently what I’m used to/what I feel like I deserve. I even apologize to my abusers for defending myself or telling them that I didn’t like what they were doing to me. I’m very self critical and will tell myself that every thought and every feeling I have is wrong. If I feel anger I ask myself “why am I angry? Is that a valid reason to be angry? No. You can’t be angry, that’s wrong.” Same goes for sadness or any negative emotion. Even if I have a valid reason to be upset at someone, I gaslight myself into believing that it’s not valid and that I’m being bad for feeling the way I do. However when it comes to other people, I tell them to feel their feelings and that their feelings are beautiful, and make them human because I genuinely believe that feeling things is one of the most beautiful and fascinating things a human can do. I validate them for things I would criticize myself for, and genuinely believe that the person is valid despite not feeling the same amount of compassion for myself. All of this somehow has me convinced I’m a narcissist of some kind. An abuser of mine pointed out my mothers toxic and controlling behavior, but he ended up being the same way. He would constantly tear me down, verbally/emotionally and manipulate me, telling me how horrible I was by saying I was lazy and never did anything never tell him anything never do XYZ. Now that I can see he was right about my mother, I’m worried he’s right about me too. I’ve posted about it before on here, so if you’re curious you can look to see what else he’s done. Yes, I’ve apologized to him for reacting to his abuse, and genuinely felt bad for telling him that it made me uncomfortable or hurt me. I’m worried that I don’t feel empathy, that I can’t love, that I’m a bad person. I don’t know what to do anymore, the thoughts have gotten so loud it’s overwhelming. Even though my therapist has literally told me that I often put other peoples feelings ahead of my own, to the point I don’t know who I am or how I feel, I still wonder if I’m a narcissist. She often tells me “facts over feelings” because I would make excuses for my abusers behaviors or fail to stick up for myself because I was worried about how they’d react or how THEY would feel despite me being the one abused. I know this was long, but can someone please take the time to comment if you’ve gone through something similar or know of something that can help. I’m just so lost, and I need someone, please.
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