Some adults don’t realise they experienced emotional neglect until they’re in their 30s, 40s or even later.

Emotional neglect isn’t always obvious. It can happen in families that looked ‘normal’ from the outside. You might look back and realise how isolated you became from wider family, leaving very few people who could see what life was really like for you. To everyone else, it may have looked like everything was fine.

You might have learned to cope on your own, become the one who never caused a fuss, seemed to appear shy, became quiet, put everyone else’s needs before your own, learned that your own needs didn’t matter, or found it difficult to ask for help because it simply wasn’t something you learned to do.

As adults, those early experiences can show up as anxiety, people-pleasing, perfectionism, low self-esteem or a constant feeling that you’re never quite enough.

Understanding where those patterns began can help you make sense of your experiences, recognise the impact they’ve had on your life, and decide what you want to do differently moving forward💛