Actress Angelina Jolie had a chaotic relationship with her father growing up.
As a result, she became estranged from him and even changed
her last name to disconnect from all her painful memories.
She says, "I don't believe that somebody's family becomes their blood,
families are earned."
Titles mean nothing when you never felt close to someone
who was supposed to be there, but offered little to no support.
Does this sound familiar?
Here are 6 side effects of growing up in a toxic family.
1. You have a fear of being manipulated.
Toxic families often involve some sort of
daily manipulation between 2 or more family members.
Manipulation is a serious form of mental and emotional abuse.
Whether you've been directly manipulated or
watched someone you love be a victim to it,
this can cause you to grow fearful of this toxic behavior.
As a result, you may become avoidant of others in order
to protect yourself.
2. You struggle with developing your self-identity.
People who come from toxic families often struggle with
image and low self-esteem issues because they weren't
nurtured to have confidence in themselves.
You might have grown up with parents who never respected your boundaries,
often verbally abused you,
or didn't allow you room for you to develop your own beliefs, dreams
and interests.
Consequently, you begin to see yourself in a negative light.
Instead of having nurturing parents who helped you except your flaws,
mistakes, and failures, you faced harsh criticism
on a daily basis.
Without a healthy sense of steam, one can miss out on
fulfilling their talents and potential.
3. You have difficulty trusting others.
Children first learn how to form relationships with others
from their parents.
Toxic parents often give children a reason to close up,
and they become distrustful of the world.
When you learn to put walls up out of fear of being vulnerable,
it makes it hard for you to connect and relate with others.
4. You have trouble interacting socially.
Studies from Texas Woman's University shows that adults who were raised in
dysfunctional families reported struggles maintaining
romantic relationships and overcoming their insecurities
because they feared losing control.
As a result, many of them would deny reality and their own feelings.
When you grow up in a household that exposes you to
neglect, abuse, and mistreatment, the last thing you want to do is
get close to people who might let you down or betray you.
5. You have anxiety overload.
According to a study published in The Journal Of Behavior Therapy And
Experimental Psychiatry, people who were raised in a dysfunctional
household are more likely to be diagnosed with
Generalized Anxiety Disorder. As a result,
children who grew up in a toxic environment
are at risk of developing problems with their academics,
social life and impulse control, because their brain
is continuously exposed to cortisol, the stress hormone.
Systems of Generalized Anxiety Disorder include headaches,
irritability, muscle tension, sweating constant worrying,
and feelings of restlessness.
6. You deal with the trauma by going through emotional cutoff
or estrangement from your family.
Once children from toxic families grow up into adults
who can financially support themselves, they often
experience emotional cutoff or estrangement to
disconnect from their unresolved family conflict.
Emotional cutoff, coined by American psychiatrist
Marie Bowen, is a process that involves either physically
distancing oneself from a family member or avoiding
sensitive topics in a conversation to reduce anxiety.
Some people choose to disconnect from their family members
because it's better than drowning along who hasn't changed
or been treated for their unhealthy behavior.
Have you experienced these side effects?
We know that sometimes it might seem impossible
to recover from them, but were here to offer a safe,
judgment free space where you can talk about what
you've faced.
If you're feeling brave, please share your story with us
down below.
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and check out are Patreon
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