REACTIONS
TO ABUSE
Victims
of abuse are often full of intense and often
conflicting emotions. People that have not been in an
abusive relationship cannot understand how you can still love or care
about someone that abuses you.
Emotions cannot be turned on or off like a light. You can feel
quite torn between loving the person and
being afraid of them. You may experience all feelings listed
or just a
few. Sometimes feelings may flow
from one to another and
back
again. Holding on to negative emotions slowly kills the your
spirit.
alienation anxiety
chronic
fear
co-dependency
depression
dispair
failure
feeling
incompetant
grief
involuntary
fear
irritability
low
self-esteem
mistrust or
dislike of opposite
gender numb
self-blame
self-doubt
self
hatred
supressed
anger
vulnerability
worthlessness
Abuse
can affect a persons
health. Stress has detrimental effect
on a person's health. Illnesses already present may worsen with
the stress.
Otherwise
healthy people may have physical reactions to stress.
Stress Reactions
May Cause Or
Worsen:
Alcoholism
Allergic skin reactions
Anorexia
Anxiety
attacks
Bulimia
Chronic
Fatigue
Concentration
difficulties that result in such as decreased job
performance
Depression
Drug abuse
Headaches
Heart
palpitations
High blood
pressure
Insomnia
Irritable
bowel
syndrome
Memory
loss
Overeating
Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome
Premature
labor and/or low birth-weight infant
Stomach
ailments, ulcers
And many
others............
Note:
These lists are
not
comprehensive. Your particular situation may be
somewhat different. If you feel you are being abused, seek
professional counseling. Nothing in this checklist should be considered
a substitute for counseling.
If
you feel you are in an abusive relationship, get help now!
You can take the
first step by calling the National Domestic Violence
Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) (TDD 1-800-787-3224) or go to http://www.ndvh.org
.
