![]() ![]() Trauma bonding: Victims may remain loyal to or bond with their perpetrator and distrust outside helpers, reflecting trauma bonding that amplifies betrayal blindness.Rumination on the betrayal: You may find yourself constantly replaying the details of the betrayal in your mind, unable to shake the thoughts and feelings associated with the event.Self-silencing: Victims frequently engage in self-silencing and repression of their own needs to avoid provoking or upsetting their betrayer and complicating relationships. ![]() Minimization and denial: Victims may employ minimization and denial as cognitive coping strategies to downplay the betrayal trauma’s severity in order to reduce cognitive dissonance about the perpetrator’s benevolence.This shattered worldview leads to feelings of confusion, distrust, and disempowerment. Disorientation: One common symptom of betrayal trauma is profound disorientation and an unstable sense of reality, as the victim struggles to integrate the betrayal with their previous trust in the perpetrator.This psychological shock can leave the victim emotionally numb or disconnected. Emotional numbness or shock: Betrayal trauma often generates immobilizing feelings of shock, incredulity, and denial, as the victim’s mind recoils from the magnitude of the betrayal by someone they depended upon for care and support.You may experience impaired memory recall or dissociative amnesia surrounding the betrayal and abuse. Dissociative symptoms: Dissociation is a way for people to cope with really upsetting memories.Sadness: Victims can develop an inability to self-generate positive emotions, resulting in anhedonia, emptiness, and depression after betrayal eviscerates happiness and trust.Anxiety and hypervigilance – You feel on guard because you don’t know if you’ll be betrayed again.Some people with traumatic bonds can experience toxic shame, believing that they somehow caused the betrayal You might experience severe mood swings, be emotionally withdrawn, and struggle with anxiety and depression. ![]() Emotional mayhem: You may struggle to process your emotions and memories, leading to sadness, anger, confusion, and fear.Powerlessness: Betrayal trauma often leads to a pervasive sense of powerlessness and voicelessness, as victims feel silenced or inhibited about expressing pain over abuse from someone they depend on.Shame and guilt: You may feel ashamed or guilty for trusting the person who betrayed you, even though you are not responsible for their actions.Restoring compassion and faith often involves realizing the betrayer’s own unhealed wounds. Processing painful emotions is needed to counter repression. Healing from betrayal trauma requires rebuilding shattered assumptions through establishing new trustworthy relationships. But long-term, it can create psychological challenges. This serves a short-term protective purpose. ![]() According to trauma theory, the more you depend on an abuser, the more likely you are to suppress memories of abuse. Losing safe connections after depending on others for care is agonizing. Your mind may use repression to maintain vital connections with that abusive person.īetrayal trauma also severs secure attachment bonds that provide stability. But childhood abuse by a caregiver disrupts your fundamental need for safety and trust, often leaving deep scars. For example, discovering a coworker launched your business idea would hurt but likely not traumatize you. ![]()
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