The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence states that 7 out of ten women who endure any abuse will show symptoms of psychological abuse like PTSD and depression for several years or decades after the abuse. Most of us probably do not need these statistics to acknowledge the mental pain of abuse because we have a personal account or witness the same in our community.
Many survivors will tell you that the mental and emotional abuse lingers in their minds on an endless tape long after healing from physical trauma. The worst cases are the subtle psychological abuses that do not seem as harsh as overt abuse that you can work out after a minor confrontation. Eventually, you will lose count of the number of accusations of cheating, the passive-aggressive comments about your weight, hitting, and many other things, and dare to save yourself and rebuild your life.
Psychological effects of staying in an abusive relationship
It is important to remember that each person has a unique experience and different way of processing abuse. Nonetheless, the effects of abuse are usually destructive and traumatic and can be short or long-term. The best way to deal with it is to remain pervasive about understanding so that you can get the full benefit of our clinical addiction treatment for women.
Long-term effects
Abuse contributes to the development of many chronic conditions like chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. Over time, you are likely to notice the following emotional, mental, and physical effects of long-term abuse:
- Insomnia
- Chronic pain
- Social awkwardness or withdrawal
- Guilt
- Intense shame
- Lack of self-worth as you battle with the idea that your partner was right to belittle or hurt you
- Emotional extremes and inability to stay calm
- Sleep disorders
- Intense trust issues
Risk of ignoring the effects of abuse
In these situations, the most common phenomenon is that the survivor will try to paint the instigator as evil and not do much else to understand the harm they caused their mind. They then live life on the edge of destruction because they cannot rebuild a healthy persona without the pain of facing the trauma repeatedly. It is unfortunate how easy it becomes to lose their job, social life, and dreams before they come to terms with the abuse that molded them into a completely different kind of person who lacks vision, trust, and passion for their authentic passions.
The exact features and timeline of a nervous breakdown will vary in each person. The abusive relationship support in Irving helps you not to deal with the headaches, hallucinations, paranoia, obsessive thoughts, and anxiety on your own because you may not have the proper support or intuition to rebuild yourself in a healthy and empowering way. The goal of our shelter for women programs is to give you room to voice out your pain and experiences so you do not internalize them and form lifelong patterns of constant turmoil.
Don't hesitate to contact our women's crisis center as soon as now, 817.912.0317, for more information on our help for abused and battered women, so you reinvent yourself into a healthier, happier, and wise person.