How you’re treated as a child, and even as an adult, has a big impact on the person you’ll become later in life.
Simply stated, the past makes you into the person you are today. It molds and shapes you based on life experiences, which include both positive and negative events.
If you were mistreated as a child, it could be affecting you in other ways later in life. Let’s learn more about emotional mistreatment and how it can lead to social anxiety.
What Is Emotional Mistreatment?
Emotional mistreatment is a type of abuse that can occur when someone uses nonphysical negative treatment to put someone down or to belittle them in order to control them. The mistreatment comes in the form of criticizing, insulting, threatening, embarrassing, blaming, or degrading another person to make them feel bad about themselves.
Emotional mistreatment can happen in any type of relationship — between family members, friends, coworkers, or romantic relationships.
The Signs and Symptoms
There are many signs and symptoms of emotional abuse. Since this type of abuse is usually subtle and can happen behind closed doors, it’s important to know that if you or a loved one is showing some of these signs and symptoms, it could be an indicator of emotional abuse. These are some of the most common signs and symptoms of emotional mistreatment:
- Critiquing you for not doing things how they would
- Expecting you to dismiss your own needs for them
- Gaslighting you and causing you to question yourself
- Isolating you from your friends or family
- Monitoring your phone, social media use, or who you hang out with
- They’re not happy no matter what you do or how hard you try
- They’re wanting all of your time and attention to themself
How Emotional Mistreatment Can Lead to Social Anxiety
Emotional mistreatment can lead to other serious issues in someone’s behavioral, emotional, mental, social, and physical health. Although there won’t be physical marks, bruises, or wounds, emotional abuse can be just as harmful to someone’s overall mental health and wellness as physical abuse.
If emotional abuse occurs at a young age, it can affect someone’s developmental skills. They will form an insecure attachment style, not be able to regulate their emotions, and won’t be able to form and build upon relationships in their life.
Emotional mistreatment can cause someone to lose their sense of self-worth. Even though the abuser is lying and gaslighting you, if you’re being told the same things repeatedly, it can be hard to ignore, and you may even begin to believe them.
While your abuser might be trying to get you to withdraw from loved ones, you also may feel the need to isolate due to not feeling good enough for anyone else. This can affect the relationships that you hold with loved ones and even bring on feelings of social anxiety.
Next Steps
There is a huge correlation between emotional mistreatment or abuse and the development of social anxiety. If you’re struggling with social anxiety from a past life of having to navigate emotional mistreatment, healing is possible.
It may feel like you’re alone and you have no one to talk to, but we’re here to help you gain control over your life again. Your past isn’t the only thing that defines you. While it may have shaped you into the person you are today, it’s time to let your other memories and qualities shine again.
Working with a good trauma therapist can help you get to the root cause of your anxiety. I’m here to help you when you’re ready. Reach out today to set up an initial consultation.