By Souls of Silver
A toxic relationship often damages without the visible signs of violence. It can slowly transform a confident and carefree person into a ghost of their former self. Such relationships are difficult to fathom and even more difficult to escape from.
A Fairy-Tale To Begin With
Relationships such as these begin well. Your partner might come across as kind and considerate initially. Their sweet personality captivates not just you but your whole family. You are the only fairy in his tale until the script turns.
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The Chinks Become Visible
It might be months and even years before the scars begin to show. At times the realization explodes in your face but at other times your eyes open slow and easy to the facts. It might not be a violent relationship. But it is the small put-downs that chip away at your poise and sanity.
A Tendency To Blame The Self
A careless remark, a snide comment and when you protest, it is dismissed as a harmless joke. You are chided for taking things to heart. And you plod on silently with your wounded pride, swallowing your hurt and unable to share it with anyone. But it repeats and gets too frequent for you to tolerate. Your dress, your haircut, your family, everything that you represent becomes a target for random potshots. Yet you try to be the cheerful optimist in your toxic relationship.
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A Prisoner Of Habit
It wears down your poise, your resistance until even a snide remark rattles you badly. You realize that your passivity it slowly killing you. But you have turned too numb to react. A prisoner of habit and complacency. The fear of the unknown keeps you rooted in the relationship.
It Isn’t Only The Knife That Scars
Scars from mental cruelty can be as deep and long-lasting as wounds from physical violence but are just not obvious to a third person. The insinuations, criticisms, insults, and accusations slowly eat away at your self-esteem. You become unable to judge a situation realistically. You are too beaten down emotionally to think straight.
Walk Away
Your silent screams are heard only by you, the one held captive. You remain a prisoner and only your voice can set you free. But then you realize that you can walk away to nothing. An alternative is required to first recuperate and then survive.
You try to maintain a sense of normalcy until you no longer can, when subjected to trauma in an emotionally damaging toxic relationship. You become a survivor who has been to hell and back. And if you are still standing erect through all this you have become a warrior.
We all know someone who has been through this hell and is still struggling to come to terms with it. The first thing is to let them know that they are not alone. PTSD will be an unwanted but troublesome companion for long. Look for such signs in someone close to you. And give them all the support you can.
Share this article with your friends to warn them about the signs of a toxic relationship, which may result in PTSD for them.
