Divorce and toxic marriages are rarely painless in any family. Although, for the sake of children’s well-being, it’s sometimes better to make the decision to have a smooth break up rather than maintain a difficult marriage.
Still, if your marriage has created a toxic home environment, your children are probably better off getting some distance from it.
When a child sees their parents fighting constantly, they start blaming themselves for the fights. Children are impressionable and naive, so they end up taking on guilt when it doesn't even have anything to do with them.
Some of the reasons listed below could be affecting your child.
1. They may have trouble building various types of relationships.
Conflicts at home lead to difficulties with building balanced relationships with peers, while sibling relationships can become overprotective or distant.
In unhappy families, Kids living in a toxic environment find it difficult to get close to people, and this can lead to later adulthood and also it can even affect how a child will perceive any kind of connection with another person.
For them, intimacy is deeply connected to trauma since they witnessed their parent's dysfunctional marriage.
2. Children might feel uneasy at home.
Children need a safe and happy space to thrive. They are also likely uncomfortable with you and your partner because they don't want to increase the amount of conflict.
If they have to constantly navigate between the landmines that you and your partner have become then your child is uncomfortable at home.
They would find it difficult to express themselves freely by constantly being vigilant about the emotions of the adults in the house.
3. Kids often want to start doing things to stave off bad emotions.
They may develop unhealthy habits. in response to a stressful situation in the family. This behaviour can consist of overeating, excessive video game usage, or other attempts to escape from reality.
However, children may lose interest in school, get in fights with peers, and become angry while playing with toys as they try to numb their emotions and pick up bad habits.
4. They may become afraid of their own emotions and develop mood problems.
Kids may start to think that anger and criticism are a source of extreme danger.
And, of course, they will go on to repeat their parents’ toxic behaviour in their own relationships as adults.
While those who grow up in a stressful household may develop anxiety, depression, and other problems, kids whose parents get a divorce usually adjust well over time.
But destructive tactics between parents such as avoidance, verbal aggression, and walking out can make children feel that expressing their own feelings isn’t a safe strategy.
According to Psychology Today, with an unhappy background, children lose hope early in life and always expect the worst.
5. They become more vulnerable to stress.
When children of toxic parents grow up, they may find it hard to accept that relationships between 2 people involve misunderstandings.
They end up feeling insecure in their home and interpret these situations as threatening.
Therefore these situations can lead to nightmares and feelings of apprehension.
They may display high levels of self-criticism.
What do you think is best for kids in the circumstances?
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