Physical abuse not only scars the body, it also scars the psyche. If you have been a victim of physical abuse, it would not be surprising if you suffer from some form of Complex PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Unlike PTSD which may include a one time occurrence. Complex PTSD includes a pattern of multiple occurrences. Short term effects include but are not limited to: anger, sadness, fear, confusion, guilt. Long term effects include: depression, anxiety, substance use, personality disorders. If the perpetrators were your parents, it creates a higher level of human disconnect and scars to your psyche because your parents are supposed to be your protectors.
Depending on the level of abuse, reactions can range anywhere from mild vigilance to extreme hypervigilance, paranoia and even aggressive behavior. Some of my patients have been spanked, slapped across the face, hit with a belt, and even worse, beaten.
Different cultures express anger and discipline in different ways. Some cultures tend to slap their children on the behind while other cultures may belt their children or use canes to whip them with. At it’s extreme, physical abuse includes punching and choking.Mixed with alcohol or drugs physical abuse can rise to whole new level, threatening the self or others, imploding in suicide or exploding in homicide.
Current studies have shown that any form of physical displays of abuse can have harmful effects on the psyche. Intuitively we all know that if we model physical abuse to solve behavioral or other problems, we are blatantly teaching our children that the solution is to be abusive. It makes no sense to use abuse to contain abuse. The message to behave when abuse is the punishment is very ambivalent, to say the least.
The expression “sticks and stones will break bones…” can now be put in a different context. Not only do they break bones they can break the spirit and create harmful reactions that reverberate well into adulthood.
Think about the message that children are encoding into their belief system about themselves and the world: if mom and dad beats me I must not be worth much. I must be a bad child, I must be garbage. These are examples of interpretations that children make about themselves.
Highly unhealthy parents will project their own anger and unhealed childhood wounds onto their children. This form of copying parental and multigenerational behavior is a form of identifying with the aggressor by acting like the aggressor. Although projection is a form of ridding oneself of uncomfortable feelings, it only perpetuates the feelings with no release for the perpetrators.
From A Mind Map Perspective
We multigenerationally repeat patterns from the past. If we do not heal childhood wounds we will carry them internally and spread them to the next generation. Physical abuse and the messages that they convey to children are easily learned and can be broken through reprocessing feelings related to the anger, betrayal, shame and guilt this type of abuse can generate.
Behavioral therapy is not enough. Anyone can learn new behaviors, however if they are not addressed at cause, the changes are merely temporary and don’t really take root.
It is important to dig deep into the past to close the chapter and be the cause of a better outcome for part two of your life. If you have suffered from physical abuse or any type of abuse, if you are a parent and find yourself projecting these behaviors on your children or into your relationship with significant others, domestic violence as an example, please seek help and dismantle the old blue printing so that you can be part of creating a new one for yourself and your future generation.
