Have you ever felt that your parents always tried to ignore your feelings or blamed you for everything? If yes, then it is possible that you have experienced pathogenic parenting.
Pathogenic parenting is not a common parenting style, but a process that deeply affects the mental development of the child. Especially when the parents have a lot of narcissistic tendencies,
then this situation becomes even more serious for the child. In this article, we will go deeper into pathogenic parenting and understand how it affects the self-esteem, thinking and relationships of children.
What is pathogenic parenting?
Pathogenic parenting is a parenting style in which parents inadvertently or intentionally behave with the child in a way that harms the mental and emotional development of the child. Pathogenic parenting examples include interrupting the child repeatedly,
ignoring his/her feelings, or always trying to prove the child “weak” or forcibly separating the child from the other parent. In such a case, problems like anxiety, depression,
trust issues and identity crisis are seen in the child’s personality. All these are considered pathogenic parenting examples.
All these weaken the child’s self-worth at a deep level, which is why how pathogenic parenting affects mental health has become a serious psychological topic.
A study by pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov shows that children who experienced parenting with less affection and more control (pathogenic parenting) are more likely to have depression, self-doubt and suicidal thoughts in their lives. Therefore, it is important to understand the signs of pathogenic parenting and know the ways to avoid it.
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Signs You Were Raised by a Pathogenic Parent
Do some things from your childhood always make you restless? Like you think that “no matter what I do, mom and dad are never happy” or “I always feel guilty,
but what was my fault” all these habits make it possible that your childhood was affected by pathogenic parenting.
Pathogenic parenting is such a parenting that slowly breaks the emotional and mental health of the child even without beating.
Some common signs of pathogenic parenting are
- Getting punished for expressing your feelings in the family
- Parents always behaving cruelly towards you
- Parents ignoring your feelings.
- Taking responsibility of the happiness of parents on yourself
- Low self-esteem and always feeling a fear in yourself.
The effect of pathogenic parenting negatively affects the lives of children and it takes away the happiness from the lives of children. If you have also faced pathogenic parenting and now you want to recover, then it is important that you try to recover from it.
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How to recover from pathogenic parenting
Have you ever felt that your childhood experiences still cause you emptiness or insecurity? If yes, then you may have faced pathogenic parenting. To forget the past and heal the future, you must first journal and create boundaries.
According to an American study adults who recognize and process childhood trauma have a 65% higher chance of long-term emotional stability.
Now the question arises how to heal the emotional wounds caused by pathogenic parenting, the answer is that recovery from childhood emotional wounds is not easy but it is definitely possible.
Recognizing your experience and understanding yourself is the real beginning of this journey. Remember healing is possible but it starts with self-awareness and support, so control your emotions and start recovering.
Conclusion
In this article, we understood that pathogenic parenting not only affects the child’s life but it also completely destroys his self-confidence. Especially when it comes in the form of narcissistic parenting, its effect is even more serious.
There are many examples of pathogenic parenting definition such as repeatedly blaming the child, ignoring the feelings of children, or suppressing children’s decisions.
Recognizing this and recovering from it is the first step towards mental peace in life, so do not spoil the present due to bad childhood memories and try to recover, for this consult a psychology specialty.