Verbal Abuse Recovery
Gaslighting can slowly make you question your memory, instincts, and even your own sense of reality. In this personal reflection, I look at how repeated denial, blame, and distorted versions of events affected my ability to trust myself, and how documenting what happened became part of finding my way back to my own voice.
Abuse does not always begin with something obvious. Subtle patterns of control, criticism, intimidation, isolation, and manipulation can build slowly over time. This article looks at warning signs that may be easy to dismiss individually, but deserve attention when several begin appearing together.
So, it has been a very long time since I have had to communicate with my abusive ex. Do I miss it? Nope, not one tiny little bit. It is still difficult navigating the relationship with my daughter since she still lives in his house and he is still very controlling. To my daughter, she may believe his being controlling is a form of love. Hopefully she will learn one day that control is not love.
Recently I have been binge watching The Handmaid's Tale. I must say this is probably not the best show to binge watch because it is tale of a very dark totalitarian society. Nearly every episode is dark, disturbing, and rather abusive. However, there are may parallels between the abuse of power displayed and what life... Continue Reading →
I have mentioned this before that my father is mentally ill. For this reason, I have a difficult time blaming him for his insults. However, how many times do we allow an abusive person to keep abusing us before we say, "No more!"? They say he has Schizoaffective Disorder which means he fits into one... Continue Reading →
This is a story of domestic abuse and how it often runs in families. The cycle of abuse is a tough one to break unless you begin to understand the facts about abuse. Domestic abuse has more than one face and can affect you in many ways, including unknowingly teaching your children, by example, to... Continue Reading →
Hard to believe it was 9 years ago when I made the difficult decision to get divorced from my verbally abusive husband. Although there were so many things wrong with the relationships, it was a very difficult decision to make. My relationship with my ex-husband as very one-sided and I always felt drained with him.... Continue Reading →
Looking through those other journal entries made me hunt for one of my older journals. I found the one I was writing when I met my abusive ex-husband. In reading those words now I can hardly believe I could have ever felt positive things about him. As long as I can remember he has been... Continue Reading →
The myths Society paints about Domestic Abuse truly prevent awareness about emotional & psychological abuse and make it very difficult to spot. Society really paints a picture of Domestic Abuse involving physical abuse or violence. When I talked to a lawyer one time the first question they asked me was, "Has he ever hit you?"... Continue Reading →
I truly think God must have a sense of humor. I am not completely rid of my abusive ex-husband or abusive ex-boss but it sure makes me feel fired up to write more about verbal and emotional abuse, because awareness is key. Verbal Abuse can happen in almost any type of relationship and anywhere; in... Continue Reading →
It took me more than 10 years to figure out I was in an emotionally abusive relationship with my ex-husband. The trouble is that society often paints a picture of abuse as being physical not verbal, emotional, economic or sexual. During my marriage I remember thinking, "If he ever hits me, I am leaving." However,... Continue Reading →
There are many times I wonder if my abusive ex-husband is nicer to his new wife than he was to me. My Abusive Ex-Husband's Wife My ex-husband's wife tells my daughter I am crazy. No doubt these are things my ex-husband as told her about me that she is repeating. I am unable to get... Continue Reading →
One of my biggest concerns is my daughter will grow up and marry an abuser herself. All I can really do is teach her the facts and perhaps inform her of the warning signs. After all there were early warning signs in our relationship, when we were dating, which I missed or chose to ignore. ... Continue Reading →
Well, many things have transpired recently with my father. It turns out my father was diagnosed with Bi-Polar Disorder many years ago. In previous posts, Abusive Email Traps, I had listed some of the bizarre interactions I had with my father and how much they reminded me of my abusive ex-husband's behavior. When I was... Continue Reading →
One thing to keep in mind is the Abusive Boss does not stop being abusive after you are no longer available to him. They continue to abuse other people around them. Most abusers seem to be pretty careful to not do anything that will get them caught. They seem to be careful to avoid any... Continue Reading →
There were many days when my ex-husband use to come home really late & after he had been out drinking. I would be sleeping in our master bedroom, with the door locked and he would continue to knock on the door until I would open it. He would want sex, I would tell him no,... Continue Reading →
My father and I recently had an argument about whether a women should or should not get divorced from a person who is abusive. The story is posted under Abusive and Controlling Emails - Email Traps. I had stated my personal belief that a women and her children (should she have any) should leave... Continue Reading →
This is a story from one of our readers: Hello, I'm a young 15 year old girl who has had a crazy life. Some really bad things have happened as in good. I've been abused in many ways. I've been raped since I was a little girl for a couple of years from 3 boys. I've been molested from... Continue Reading →
This is a story from one of our global readers: Hi, I want to know how many times to your abuser need to abuse you to be classified as an abuser? I have been married 10 years, going through a divorce, but we have been together 15 years. The first 2 years in our relationship... Continue Reading →
One of my greatest fears is if my daughter picks someone like her dad who is abusive. My grandmother and mother picked husbands exhibiting abusive behavior very similar to my ex-husband. My parents divorced when I was about three years old. My father began using me to abuse my mother when I was four or five and... Continue Reading →
First, let me begin by saying that I am not discounting physical abuse at all. If someone is physically abusive it highly unlikely they are not emotionally & verbally abusive too. If someone feels it is their right to physically abuse their partner or child they must be manipulative, controlling and use some methods of... Continue Reading →
