It is Important to Understand that Abuse Can Affect Your Brain

Living through an abusive situation or experiencing long-term abuse can and probably will affect a victim’s brain. If you have experienced any form of abuse, you may not fully identify what changes have occurred, but it is highly likely that you realize something is different than before it all happened. It is important to understand that abuse can rewire your brain, and it is never your fault.

 

Your Changing Brain

Brains are ever-changing organs. Everything from your academic endeavors and the rigors of studying for an exam to not getting enough sleep on a continuous basis can and will have an effect on the neuroplasticity of your brain. If you are an abuse victim, it is important to recognize how abuse affects the brain and what that means for you

It is meaningful to understand that this does not ever mean anything is wrong with you or any other person who has experienced abuse in their lifetime. Instead, it is helpful to realize that a change has occurred as a result of what you were subjected to. Moving forward, this information will be part of your efforts in healing.

 

Abuse May Affect Your Attention Span

How well you were able to focus on a specific task or subject matter before the abuse happened and how you complete those same tasks or activities in the aftermath might be markedly different. This is due to your body’s responses to the trauma and a reduced ability to pay attention to certain things for a long period of time. It can even become difficult to focus on relatively simple tasks, such as reading an engaging blog.

This is not at all unexpected. The good news is that, through therapy and the guidance of a trained professional, you can retrain and essentially rewire your brain to maintain focus for longer periods of time and continue to do so. All is not lost.

 

Your Confidence Level Can be Rebuilt

Anyone who has ever experienced abuse in their life has probably also felt their confidence erode over time. No matter the type of abuse that occurred, many victims wonder why those things happened to them and question every aspect of the scenarios surrounding the abuse. These situations and details will slowly and surely begin to chip away at your confidence levels.

Through therapeutic efforts and your continued work to rebuild your life, you can get your confidence back. You might end up taking a step or two forward on the path toward progress, and then stumble with self-doubt, but you can get back up and keep going. The path to healing is not linear, and your brain will not always cooperate, but you can do the work to help repair your self-confidence and recover from the trauma you experienced.

Abuse victims have seemingly insurmountable hurdles to overcome on their way to healing. Whether it is the visible physical damage and scars, emotional trauma, or the changes in their brains, there is work to be done, for sure. The light at the end of the tunnel is there, and people are ready to help.

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