Dear Diary,

Why do I act like a victim of child abuse?

Me

This entry prompted by:

From a Q&A article from Focus on the Family about an oversensitive spouse: "What is it that�s triggering [the oversensitive spouse's] rather extreme and unreasonable reaction to your forthright expression of your opinions? Was she the victim of some kind of childhood abuse? Did she have an overly critical parent? Was she brought up in a repressive environment and taught to fear open expressions of emotion? Whatever the reason, something is causing her to shut down when she senses the approach of any kind of opposition or negativity."

And then from an article (also seen in my Facebook newsfeed today) about how to love dramatic girls: "Even if you know this girl well, you might not know the inner workings of her heart as well as you think. I don�t say this to take away the responsibility of her sin. But an alarming amount of the [dramatic] girls I have dealt with have been raised in families that did not have functioning, loving relationships or good communication. Many others have been treated poorly or abused by someone who was supposed to be trustworthy. While neither of these challenges are an excuse, they do deeply impact a person�s ability to communicate without fear or extreme emotional reactions. Many don�t know how to handle a situation in godly ways, they only know how to do what they see their mothers, friends, or celebrities do when life gets hard. And as seen on TV, drama is what our culture does best."

This isn't the first time I've run across this theme when researching why I act the way I do. :/ I think Focus on the Family may've pegged it with "Was she brought up in a repressive environment and taught to fear open expressions of emotion?" Because that actually is true.

http://www.mysahana.org/2011/05/emotion-suppression-effects-on-mental-and-physical-health/ This is an article on why repressing/suppressing emotions is a bad thing. Note to self: Look over better later. Also ask Lindsey.

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