How Your Toxic Family Upbringing Haunts You as an Adult
Your toxic family was the first thing you vowed to escape as a child. You may have vowed never to treat your children the way you were treated. And you may have lived up to that promise. But for others of you, you ended up taking your childhood trauma into your adult life where you experienced many issues and difficulties, all stemming from your upbringing.
Growing up in a toxic family comes with many issues that can affect children in very negative ways. But did you know that the problems for these children don’t end when they come of age. The trauma they experienced can follow them into adulthood and wreak havoc on their lives.
Because there are so many challenges that occur in toxic families, it is important that we try to prevent future generations from being caught in its snare. You can end generations of dysfunctional family patterns and make healthy parenting the standard in your family.
Just making the conscious decision to change the way you parent your children will make a positive difference in the lives of your children, but it will elevate humanity and out more loving energy in the world, and we need that.
This article will describe the effects of growing up in a toxic family on children that they carry into their adult lives. Let’s start with a definition of toxic family.
What is a Toxic Family?
A toxic family is a family in which at least one member causes physical or emotional harm to other members. Sometimes, this harm can be very serious and even life-threatening.The long-term effects vary by person and situation, but they may include drug use and addiction, suicidal thoughts and feelings, as well as eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa.
These problems can last into adulthood; however, it is possible to recover from them if you seek treatment early on from therapists. Please keep in mind that some people who grow up in toxic families do not develop any mental illnesses or addictions.
Those individuals can build strong relationships with others and lead happy lives. So, if what follows does not describe your life, don’t make it fit and just learn from the information.
The effects of growing up in a toxic family can be extremely serious. The problems that arise because of these environments can follow children into adulthood, making it difficult for them to have healthy relationships, find happiness and success in their adult careers or even establish stable families of their own.
It is important for parents to realize when they are being toxic, what they are doing that can potentially damage their children, and how they are affecting their children before the damage becomes too severe to repair.
Effects on Children Living in a Toxic Family
Children who are raised in a toxic family environment may develop problems as they grow older. Because children learn how to interact with others by copying the behavior of their parents, kids raised in homes filled with anger and abuse often have trouble communicating and relating to others later on.
Children also tend to repeat old behavior or fall into similar patterns as their parents. They may turn out to be just like their parents, even if these are people they aren’t proud of or respect.They do this subconsciously by learning what makes other people happy and then doing the same thing for themselves, often without realizing that it is the same toxic pattern that traumatized them as children.
As they grow older, their problems with their families will increase and compound. Children who are raised in toxic families often suffer from depression and anxiety disorders as teenagers. They may also struggle to form healthy relationships as adults that result in serious social problems later on in life, including divorce or severe loneliness.
Children who grow up in a toxic family may carry guilt, anger and resentment from the abuse they suffered. They may feel stigmatized or have a lack of trust with others. Other effects include a feeling of worthlessness and that they’re not good enough despite all the evidence showing otherwise.
They also tend to be easily frustrated and become explosive when challenged or pushed too hard. This occurs because they’ve always had someone close to them beat them down before. So it becomes something they just expect will happen automatically.
Children of toxic parents are at risk of developing psychological problems. This is especially true if they have been verbally, physically, or sexually abused by their parents.
Besides trauma and stress, these children may also develop low self-esteem, poor social skills due to negative experiences with other people during childhood. They may also feel that there is something wrong with them because of the way their parents treated them.
A toxic family environment can be emotionally and physically harmful. Children of a dysfunctional family often experience difficulties in school, with peers, and in childhood friendships that carry into adulthood. Learning to deal with the toxic relationships they were exposed to as children is hard and may take years of therapy.
In Closing
Children who grow up in a toxic family environment have to deal with stress, trauma and difficulties that their peers do not experience. While some children may cope well with the negative experiences of growing up in a toxic family, others do not.
Children who grow up in a toxic family may suffer emotional consequences that affect their ability to succeed at school, work, and relationships. These individuals may struggle with fear of abandonment and low self-esteem. They may also have difficulty developing a sense of identity and the ability to make healthy choices as they get older.
People who grow up in a toxic family should develop strategies for coping with what they’ve experienced. This will help them avoid repeating the cycle when they become parents themselves.
There is therapy available that helps individuals recover from toxic childhoods so that they can live more satisfying lives. So if you need help, please contact a professional in your area or consider remote therapy if you prefer an online option.
To learn more about changing your life for the better and letting go of the pain of your past, pick up a copy of my book Choosing to Stop the Madness: Overcoming Toxic Family Patterns. I describe how I chose myself first and ended cycles of abuse and unhealthy parenting in my adult life. I can show you how to do the same in yours.
I believe in using words to heal and absorb our pain. My journal Stop the Madness: Overcome Toxic Family Patterns Journal will help you reflect on your past and plan for your future. Pick up a copy today.
If you feel you need the help of a therapist to help you with issues such as relationships, stress, depression, PTSD, and even weight loss, reach out to Online-Therapy.com for support. Check out my review of their service and a video about online therapy in my blog.
Please share this article with those who can benefit from it. There are millions of people negatively affected from growing up in toxic families. But they may not know where to heal or even why they behave as they do. The information in this article is a good starting place.
Together, we can help heal each other. If you need to reach me, please reach out.
Thank you for spending your time with me. I’m sending you peace, love, and light!
