Understanding the Impact of Victimization on Mental Health and Its Misinterpretation as a Love Language

Many people have different ways of understanding how love is expressed; it could be by gifting, words, helping, hugging, caring, etc. Commonly in African homes, parents express love by meeting the needs of their kids and caring to know the kid's whereabouts. Sometimes caring to know the kids' whereabouts seems to be like "overprotection" and many people detest such expressions of love. However, some people who are in an abusive home or are being into a toxic relationship see victimization as an expression of love.

source

Victimization is a destructive action that affects the mental health of a person's well-being. Many marriages are shattered because the spouse hasn't victimized him/her, which is seen as a love language. When a marriage seems to be perfect, some spouse feels uncomfortable and demands divorce - this is an experience of over three (3) marriages that I know. This situation becomes alarming because its effects are psychological, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), diminished self-esteem, etc.

The Mental Health Impact of Victimization

1. Anxiety and Depression:
   In most of the books Joyce Meyer has written, she shared several stories about how she was abused as a child and how it affected her marriage. This was when her popular book "Battlefield of the Mind" came about when she became victorious over the trauma. From her context, victimization affects the mindset of people, it can cause fear and helplessness. For instance, when one is bullied in school, he will have fears to be going the next day and it becomes continuous till the person loses confidence and gets anxious about his experience when he gets to school - this is similar to an abusive home. When anxiety and fear creep in, it makes the person find it difficult to engage in daily activities without experiencing distress.

2. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD):
   Without professional help, victims who experience extreme abuse or bullying have a tendency to be traumatized. When the incident flashbacks, there is severe anxiety and withdrawal from society. It becomes challenging for the victim to share his situation with anyone in his life because he believes everyone happens to be the same - no level of trust for anyone.

3. Diminished Self-Esteem:
   The mental state of a victimized person signals negative messages in the mind - messages of inferiority, and inadequacy, thereby eroding his self-worth. This is why it is difficult to build a healthy relationship with a victimized person, he may feel he's not enough, meanwhile, it is a lie the inner self is telling him. More so, when one looks down on himself, he finds it difficult to achieve his personal goals because of low self-esteem.

4. Trust Issues and Relationship Problems:
   As earlier mentioned in point 2, victimization disrupts the ability to trust others. Victims don't feel safe anywhere or anybody they are around with. There's a fear of being hurt or manipulated again, so it's best they stay on their own.

Misinterpreting Victimization as a Love Language

Do you know people see beating, molestation as a love language? I got scared when a lady shared this with me. Certainly, she wasn't born to start enjoying such treatment, it came from a toxic environment - maybe relationships, family, friends, etc.

Actions such as controlling your spouse is seen to be protection but it's an abusive tactic, extreme jealousy also possible lead to monitoring and restrictions of the spouse's freedom, and self-sacrifice like tolerating emotional, physical, or financial abuse is not a test for loyalty and commitment - it is an abuse.

Solutions

1. Educating the society about healthy relationships.

1. Mental health programs should be organized to help individuals process their trauma, rebuild their self-esteem, and learn to establish healthy boundaries in relationships.

2. Having a good network of friends, and family can provide victims with the encouragement they need to leave abusive situations and heal.

Aside from these, there are many other solutions to mitigate this mental issue but with the above-mentioned, proper measures are taken.

Here is a post for June Inleo Prompt. Join us and participate in the event by simply clicking the link.

This article is written in InLeo

Inleo is a blockchain-based Web3 community that builds innovative applications on the Hive, BSC, ETH, and Polygon blockchains. Our flagship application: Inleo allows users and creators to engage and share content on the blockchain while earning cryptocurrency reward

Posted Using InLeo Alpha