Confusion isn’t just “I don’t know what to do.” It’s “I don’t know what’s real.” One minute they’re loving, the next they’re cruel. You start questioning your memory, your instincts, even your own reactions. Abuse, especially emotional and psychological, thrives…
Hopelessness isn’t always loud. Sometimes it sounds like “whatever,” “I’m fine,” or “what’s the point?” It creeps in after months — or years — of trying and getting nowhere. Of getting hurt and staying silent. Of waking up and wondering…
Emotional numbness doesn’t mean you’re okay, it means your system is overloaded. You stop reacting. You stop feeling. You go on autopilot. For victims of abuse, this numbness becomes a survival strategy. It’s how you keep functioning when everything feels…
Depression isn’t just sadness, it’s emptiness. It’s waking up tired, feeling nothing, and wondering if anything will ever get better. For men dealing with abuse, depression often looks like isolation, distraction, or emotional shutdown. You stop talking. You stop caring.…
Anxiety doesn’t always look like panic attacks. Sometimes it’s lying awake at night with your jaw clenched and a thousand thoughts racing through your head. Sometimes it’s obsessing over every word in a text message, or rehearsing conversations that never…
Sadness doesn’t always mean crying. Sometimes it means staring at a wall for hours, losing interest in everything, or pretending you’re fine because no one would understand anyway. For men facing abuse, sadness is often buried under anger, numbness, or…
Anger isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s a quiet rage under the surface — a tight jaw, a fake smile, a slammed cabinet door. And when you’ve been abused, anger gets confusing. You don’t know if you’re angry at them, at…
Guilt makes you believe you caused the abuse, or didn’t do enough to stop it. It’s the feeling that keeps you awake at 3 AM replaying every fight, every decision, every “what if.” For male victims, guilt often comes wrapped…
Shame doesn’t shout, it whispers that you’re the problem. For many male victims, shame doesn’t come from weakness. It’s built from years of being blamed, doubted, or told to “man up” when things went sideways. Shame tells you to hide…
Fear isn’t always screaming in a corner. Sometimes it looks like silence, hesitation, or pretending everything’s fine. For many men in abusive situations, fear becomes a normal part of life — so normal they don’t even call it fear. But…