The thing that hurts most about an abusive relationship is realizing that you were tricked into it. Most abusive relationships don’t start out with a black eye. Commonly, they begin just like any other relationship or may seem too good to be true, but slowly, your partner may begin to subtly blame you for things beyond your control or pick at your faults. This may slowly evolve into full blown verbal or physical abuse.
The trauma suffered in an abusive relationship gradually ramps up. It slowly drains you of self worth and alienates your support system, leaving you feeling trapped and miserable before you even realize the signs.
Regardless of if you suffer from emotional, verbal, or physical abuse, it can be difficult to comprehend that someone you love, and who claims to love you, could victimize you. And sometimes, your partner may not even realize what they’re doing is wrong.
There are ten sneaky signs of abuse – we’ll look at “Humiliation” in this blog –
1. Humiliation
Humiliation as a form of abuse may start out with subtle jabs or insults in private and then become full blown yelling and embarrassment in public before you even realize it. It doesn’t take much for an abuser to get angry for the smallest of reason and convince you that you’re the guilty party. This type of humiliation is meant to make you submissive and to control you in front of others if they know that they’re public outbursts will make you subservient to their wants and needs.
It could be more subtle than a full blown screaming fit – does your partner make demeaning remarks about you in front of others – or “put you in your place” when you’re with a group of friends? Does he/she try to appear smarter, and ridicule you in public? That’s another form of humiliation.
You don’t have to tolerate this behavior – with help, you can learn to value yourself and stand up for yourself in the relationship. OR – you’ll have the strength to walk away and fiind someone who loves and respects you!
Our next blog will deal with “Verbal Insults” – so check us out next week!