If you are a victim of abuse, you are probably experiencing a lot of emotions that confuse you.   Abuse may be physical, sexual or emotional.   And abuse might have occurred over a long period of time or only once. The abuse could be happening to you right now or it could have happened a long time ago.   Unfortunately, you can't go back and prevent the abuse from happening, but you can learn to cope with the emotional effects of abuse and live a healthier life.

If you are being abused, there is no need to feel ashamed.   Often, victims of abuse will feel afraid to reach out because they feel the abuse is their fault or they fear that the abuser will be mad if they tell someone. By reaching out to someone who can help, you can get yourself out of the abusive situation. If you are unsure if you are being abused, think about these questions:

• Does somebody close to you constantly criticize you and make you feel worthless?
• Does somebody close to you make threats to your safety or to the safety of the people or pets who are close to you?
• Does somebody close to you feel very jealous of anybody else that you talk to or become close to?
• Does somebody close to you have a very scary temper that is unpredictable?
• Does somebody close to you make you do sexual things against your will?
• Does somebody close to you use violence against you?

There are many long-term effects of abuse on your emotions including:

Low self-esteem: victims of abuse often feel bad about themselves because they were put down over a long period of time by their abuser.

Lack of control of your emotions: If you have been abused, you might find yourself wanting to cry suddenly in the middle of the day or you might overreact to the smallest things.   This is your body's way of dealing with the abuse you experienced.   Many times this can be difficult to deal with and it is best to seek help in order to learn how to manage these difficult emotions.

Nervousness: If you are being abused, you might feel nervous all the time because you are afraid of making your abuser angry with you.   This might last even after the abuse has stopped.

Insomnia: If you are being abused or have been abused, you might find it very hard to fall asleep or you might have nightmares.   You might be preoccupied with thoughts of your abuser or feel overcome with feelings of sadness or nervousness.

Fear of relationships: If you are a victim of abuse, you might find it vary scary to become close to somebody else.   You might have a hard time trusting other people and find yourself pushing friends away.