Okay, so how do you deal with an emotionally abusive relationship?
If you're wondering whether you should leave an emotionally abusive relationship,
just know that it gets worse. It does not get better. This is an unhealthy extremely
toxic relationship. In some cases, emotionally abusive relationships can even lead to
physical abuse and a lack of safety.
In fact, experts have found that emotional abuse is often a precursor to physical
abuse, and that verbal abuse early in a relationship predicts physical abuse later on,
usually after partners marry.
Leaving is the way in which tio deal with it. is likely to be one of the hardest things
you'll ever do. Narcissists depend on their supply — the people they emotionally,
financially, and psychologically drain. They need someone to abuse and manipulate
to fulfill their needs and to constantly prove to themselves they are better, stronger,
and smarter than everyone else.
Leaving an emotionally abusive relationship may be the hardest thing you have ever
had to do. The verbal, physical and probably sexual abuse leaves you feeling
immobilized, with low self-esteem, full of shame, powerless and helpless,
overwhelmed with despair and without the emotional energy to get yourself out of the
relationship. I have wlked down this road and have lived o tell the tale. You can do it.
However, as you embark on this difficult journey, keep in mind that it is not only
necessary but also very rewarding. Whilst the first step to getting out is recognizing
that you are in fact being abused, the second starts with a decision and a concrete
practical plan on how you're going to do it.
I hope this resource will help you think your situation through and help you draw a
map for the journey of regaining your life.
NO ONE deserves to live the rest of their life in an unhappy and abusive relationship.
It can drive you to serious depression, despair and the will not to live.
Dealing with an Emotionally Abusive Relationship.
1. GAIN CONTROL OVER YOUR THOUGHTS AND HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT
YOURSELF
The most important first step is to CHANGE your thoughts about how you see and
feel about yourself.
You will need to REJECT all the verbal abuse of degradation that your partner has
instilled into your conscience. YOU ARE A WORTHY INDIVIDUAL. You are not what
your abuser has told you that you are. If you are reading this, you know that you are
in an abusive relationship. You are NOT stupid (or a stupid cow, as some of us used
to be called!!!) neither are you dumb nor an idiot.
2. LEARN TO SEE AND UNDERSTAND YOUR ABUSER'S STRATEGY
Take stock and reflect on the things your abuser says and does to
make you feel worthless. What you have been told has chipped
away at your self-esteem, making you feel hopeless and worthless.
3. BEGIN TO REBUILD YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE AND SELF-ESTEEM
Your self-esteem has been tampered with and you will need self-confidence to
bring up the emotional energy and inner strength to break free. What hobbies and
interests did you have that you loved but had to drop?
Try and find those things that are truely YOURS. Doing these things helps rebuild
your self-confidence because they are about YOU, feeding your self without having
to be dependant on anybody to give you that satisfaction.
Do things that YOU enjoy. Do you have faith? Reconnect with the true friends
you dropped and start getting the rest of your life back.
4. GIVE UP TRYING TO CHANGE THE ABUSER AND STOP HOPING THAT
HE/SHE WILL CHANGE
Something that we do when in an abusive relationship is to always hope that our
abuser will change. We beg, cajole, cry, pray etc. STOP trying to change the abuser,
STOP believing they will stop abusing you, and STOP believing that they will change,
because unless they get help themselves they NEVER DO. This hope leads us into
isolating yourself from your real friends because they can see what is going on, and
you choose to remain with the abuser because you feel that because they ‘love’ you
dearly they will change.
Abusers rarely change because they depend on the power they have over you to
nourish their very own self-esteem. Let us not live in denial.
You are hurting yourself and if you have children you are also really hurting them
and setting them up for a similar future.
5. DECIDE TO LEAVE
You will also need to make a conscious decision. DECIDE to leave. This is about
taking control back and is extremely hard for anyone in this situation, and for some
people, it is much easier than for others. In emotionally abusive relationships, it is far
better to remove yourself from the situation as quickly as you are able to.
6.BEFORE YOU LEAVE, MAKE A CONCRETE SURVIVAL PLAN
After you have made the decision to leave, it’s crucial that you have a survival PLAN
that will help you map out your exit and life after. Often people in this situation leave
much too abruptly without having thought their exit through or having established a
sustainable safety net.
What happens then is that the abuser is usually just around the corner, waiting to
come for your rescue. Soon you will find yourself back in the relationship and the
vicious cycle you wanted to break out of. Except this time, the cycle quickly moves
to a much higher level because the abuser now sees that you cannot live without
him or her.
Finances are of the uttermost importance in this plan. If you are not financially able,
begin to take the steps to get financial independence, and if possible, begin a
savings account which is really your escape from the emotionally abusive
relationship fund.
FINALLY PLEASE BELIEVE THAT THERE IS LIFE AFTER YOUR
RELATIONSHIP. AND YES, YOU WILL BE OKAY
I finally did break away from the abuse, by the grace of God. I had lived with it for 18
years and was almost killed in it. I thank God that I had my Christian faith. I did it. You
can too.
PLEASE SHARE
RELATED ITEMS ON OUR BLOG PAGE
Are You in An Emotionally Abusive Relationship?
Are you thinking you might be either on the abusing or abused end of a relationship?
If you’re thinking you might be, then you probably are!
The Drama Triangle
Is your relationship full of drama?
Find out how drama is generated in relationships and the different roles we take to
keep the drama going in the relationship. Ongoing drama = toxic relationship.
