Tuesday, January 7, 2020

Being a Parent of an Abuse Victim is the Hardest Thing I Have Ever Endured

It is hard to describe the utter despair and agony of watching a beloved young adult child with a bright and happy future become trapped in the hellish cycle of emotional abuse.  It's similar to witnessing your child being abducted or kidnapped. The inability to rescue or help that child, as you slowly watch him/her self-destruct, is a parents' worst nightmare.

There are many excellent articles, websites, and resources that can help us to understand and recognize abusive relationships. We had a strong feeling that something was very "off" in my son's relationship with his girlfriend. We saw countless red flags. But we didn't know how to express our concerns until we did a little digging and found a few websites that helped us to define,  confirm, and substantiate the abnormal behavior we were observing. It was only after we fully understood what was happening, that we could help him to connect the dots; thus giving him a way out.

The rest of our journey can be read at:

https://www.invisibleabuse.net/austins-story/parents-perspective