Quiz: Was I Abused? – elevated aura

Many survivors of abuse have no idea they were abused.

If you were raised in a dysfunctional or abusive home, there are certain abusive behaviors from your parents and/or siblings that you may have normalized in your mind in order to survive in the situation you were in at the time. This is because as children it is too painful for us to accept that our caregiver would reject us or not love us – so we convince ourselves that we are the problem, that we are unlovable.

Additionally when it comes to abuse, most of us are familiar with sexual and physical abuse, but there are other types of abuse, including verbal, psychological, and emotional abuse that are just as harmful and damaging to a person as sexual and physical abuse. Some in the mental health community believe emotional, verbal, and psychological abuse is almost more harmful than sexual or physical abuse because the insidious nature of emotional abuse makes it so that the target of abuse questions their sanity. Once they recognize their behavior is a result of the abuse they endured, they have the uphill battle of dealing with the unsolicited opinion from others that the abuse “wasn’t that bad” because their abuser didn’t lay a hand on them. (!!!!!!!!!!)

To help you better understand the different kinds of abuse that exist as well as allow you the opportunity to audit your own life, check out our Was I Abused? Quiz.

Take our quiz here or you can read through the following statements under the five different abuse categories. BOLD statements you remember experiencing, even if it wasn’t from a parent.

Physical Abuse

Parent slapped me to prove their point/teach me a lesson
Parent spanked me as a “punishment” saying it was for my own good
Parent pulled on my hair to force me to move
Parent threw things at me while angry, things heavy enough to hurt me
Parent trapped me into a room/corner so I couldn’t escape them
Parent hit me when I wouldn’t obey them/tried to confront them
Parent used a twig/stick/belt to lash at my body
Parent grabbed me to force me to pay attention to them
Parent pinned me down and physically prevented me from escaping
Parent brought me into situations where I feared for my life
Parent made it painfully obvious for me that I’ll obey them or suffer injuries
Parent threatened to beat me if I wouldn’t do as they say
Parent forcefully fed me something I refused to eat
Parent made an attempt at strangling/drowning/burning me
Parent banged my head/body into the wall /furniture
Parent forced me into sexual activities

Emotional Abuse

Parent called me derogatory names and slurs more than once
Parent said my name mostly with hatred and scorn in their voice
Parent degraded and humiliated me in front of others for fun
Parent insulted and devalued something really important to me
Parent deprived me of something that meant the world to me
Parent yelled and swore at me in anger more than once
Parent blamed me for things that were out of my control / not my fault
Parent shamed me for my physical appearance
Parent guilt-tripped me for not pleasing them well enough
Parent regarded me as a burden and shamed me for needing them at all
Parent insisted I couldn’t take a joke after I got hurt from their insults
Parent never comforted me / got angry if I reached for comfort
Parent punished me for crying /showing fear/showing trauma symptoms
Parent humiliated me for showing excitement and happiness
Parent subtly let me know that my feelings and my problems don’t matter
Parent got angry at me for feeling depressed/angry/tired/suicidal
Parent blamed me for feeling depressed/angry / tired / suicidal
Parent compared me to cousins / other children to prove how I’m the worst
Parent decided for me how I feel when it was convenient for them
Parent told me that I was crazy/delusional/need to be locked away
Parent threatened me with kicking me out / sending me away if I don’t change
Parent refused to accept my sexuality / tried to force it to change
Parent required for me to act normal to protect the family’s reputation
Parent isolated me from family activities they all enjoy
Parent assured me that nobody will ever want me
Parent insisted that I was lucky and that I could have had it much worse
Parent made me responsible for their well-being and made me the caretaker
Parent insisted that their harmful acts were all made “out of love”
Parent demanded me to be available for their requests at any time
Parent punished me for trying to establish boundaries
Parent destroyed my belongings as a revenge
Parent made inappropriate sex jokes and comments in my presence
Parent denied doing any of this and insists all the blame is on me

Psychological Abuse

Parent kept pointing out my flaws as proofs that I won’t achieve anything
Parent called me stupid, incompetent, ignorant while withholding information that I needed to know in order to complete tasks
Parent would change their side of the agreement in a crucial moment and then pretend it was obvious from the start
Parent stalked me/distrusted me without any reason/invaded my privacy
Parent attacked my insecurities and vulnerabilities in any argument
Parent forced me into degrading actions while they watched me do it
Parent threatened to leave me
Parent accused me regularly of behaving the way they did
Parent never acknowledged, praised, or approved of my actions
Parent always demanded they are right without any proof/explanation
Parent insisted that they’re a great parent using financial support as proof
Parent insisted that I should be grateful for how good they are to me
Parent gaslighted me and tried to make me believe my memories weren’t real if I confronted them with what they did

Neglect

Parent didn’t notice I haven’t been eating properly
Parent didn’t notice I was sick/didn’t care for me while I was sick
Parent didn’t notice I was injured
Parent didn’t notice I didn’t have clothes/shoes I needed for school
Parent didn’t notice I suffered from trauma
Parent didn’t notice I was anxious and stressed
Parent didn’t notice I was depressed
Parent didn’t notice I was cutting myself
Parent didn’t notice I was suicidal
Parent didn’t notice I was being sexually abused
Parent didn’t notice I was being bullied
Parent failed to get me medical attention when it was needed
Parent failed to teach me the very basics of self-care
Parent didn’t seem to notice any of my needs and feelings except the absolute minimum I required to survive
When I notified them of these things, they denied it, accused me of lying, decided it wasn’t happening and/or blamed me for it

Financial Abuse

Parent made me feel ashamed for needing money
Parent made me feel like I’m a financial burden to them
Parent only gave me minimal money to survive
Parent made sure I never have a decent amount of money on me
Parent took the money I earned from me
Parent used the money to blackmail me (if you continue this way let’s see who will pay for your bus ticket!)
Parent insisted since they “pay for my stuff” they have the right to control my behavior and actions
Parent had enough money for luxury but kept me without anything
Parent refused to get my medicine/get me medical attention because it’s too expensive while they got everything for themselves
Parent would keep me anxious over if they would pay my expenses or not
Parent would make me do as much work for them as possible before they would pay for a necessity
Parent kept me in the dark over family finances even when I was of age
Parent would make sure I never have enough money to escape them