We am breaking that silence. Not to destroy, but to diagnose. To follow the example of a revolutionary who prioritized truth-telling over institutional reputation, who revealed what was hidden to heal what was broken. #EngineeredVulnerability #BreakingSilence #FaithAndJustice
We am breaking that silence. This is our revelation. If you’ve lived this hidden map, you are not alone. Your story is not a secret to be kept; it is a key. #EngineeredVulnerability #BreakingSilence #FaithAndJustice #LowSES #HiddenRules #Revelation
When things get bigger than 1-on-1, beyond one group vs another, it may actually be #institutional. Coming towards the end of its #nationredress scheme, Australia’s having more #whistleblowers identify issues ‘swept under the rug’. This is a needed change!
Mindfulness, self-control and reflections are frequently suggested for those coping with stresses, impacts and ABUSE! Having listened to a sample of this Podcast was enough for me to take a snapshot of the screen, searching for a download to my mobile ASAP. ‘Overthinking’ is playing while I am typing out this piece, which also contained solutions of how anyone can avoid / breakaway, by having a step back. Obviously it’s through simple suggestions like these, that the bigger-unsolvable-giant issues such as #childabuse can begin to be dealt with. No, there is no single pill that solves everything. There are however suitable media available (I.E. books, podcasts, posters & images), which RCbbc collects to share through our library-posts-podcasts. We hope you enjoy whatever you have to listen to. A link/sample should be added into our Podcast 🎧 menu: #14.
Australia-wide, there is a surge among the academic studies (academia) with TWO (2) invitations/contacts being experienced in March 2025! Together with increases in journalism covering these previously ‘secret’ issues, these lifting-of-the-lids also complement National EDU changes. The 2013-17 CARC (Royal Commission) + early stages of the NRS have revealed many hidden issues, yet there is increasing numbers of victims making their applications. Whistles are being blown from ignored areas, which is part of the goals of both the original ‘Letters Patent’ & our various Counselling/Psychological-portals. Following is a group of the recent Studies received, which demonstrate some studies.
The ACMS chart conatains key points of: maltreatment, interviews, studies, abuses, neglect, DV, health, diseases & costs burdens, policy & practice. Mental health forms a major baking of one study & Men’s experiences in counselling/therapy is focus of the other.
Voices of Richard Cartier, Anneke Lucas and Joe Ryan will soon be making some of our Podcasts. Just as words from Blue Knot, Bravehearts, SAMSN and Living Well. From my CSA experiences with BBC, I get a different kind of tingly feeling. Not of stress, but of imagining what more could be done – for both the victims, their partners, families and so on. It is a different form of ‘The School Family’, but for surviving-victims of CSA – it’s our family.
Stress can significantly impact your ability to maintain a healthy weight. It can also prevent you from losing weight. Whether it’s the result of high levels of the stress hormone cortisol, unhealthy stress-induced behaviors, or a combination of the two, the link between stress and weight gain is glaring.1 Self-care strategies like mindfulness, journaling, and exercise can help you fight stress and the unwanted effect it can have on your eating habits.
Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin
The Link Between Stress and Cortisol
Researchers have long known that rises in the stress hormone cortisol can lead to weight gain. Every time you’re stressed, your adrenal glands release adrenaline and cortisol, and as a result, glucose (your primary source of energy) is released into your bloodstream. All of this is done to give you the energy you need to escape from a risky situation (also known as the fight or flight response).2
Once the threat has subsided, your adrenaline high wears off and your blood sugar spike drops. This is when cortisol kicks into high gear to replenish your energy supply quickly.
Cortisol and Sugar Cravings
Cue the sugar cravings. Because sugar supplies your body with the quick energy it thinks it needs, it’s often the first thing you reach for when you’re stressed.3
The downside to consuming so much sugar is that your body tends to store sugar, especially after stressful situations. This energy is stored mainly in the form of abdominal fat, which can be particularly hard to shed.
And so the vicious cycle starts: get stressed, release cortisol, gain weight, crave more sugar, eat more sugar, gain more weight.
Cortisol and Metabolism
Even if you aren’t eating foods high in fat and sugar, cortisol also slows down your metabolism, making it difficult to lose weight.
In 2015, researchers from Ohio State University interviewed women about the stress they had experienced the previous day before feeding them a high-fat, high-calorie meal. After finishing the meal, scientists measured the women’s metabolic rates (the rate at which they burned calories and fat) and examined their blood sugar, cholesterol, insulin, and cortisol levels.
The researchers found that, on average, women who reported one or more stressors during the prior 24 hours burned 104 fewer calories than non-stressed women.4 This could result in an 11-pound weight gain in one year. Stressed women also had higher insulin levels, a hormone that contributes to fat storage.
Stress-Induced Unhealthy Habits
In addition to the hormonal changes related to stress, stress can also drive you to engage in the following unhealthy behaviors, all of which can cause weight gain:
Emotional eating: Increased levels of cortisol can not only make you crave unhealthy food, but excess nervous energy can often cause you to eat more than you normally would.5 You might find that snacking or reaching for a second helping provides you with some temporary relief from your stress but makes healthy weight management more difficult.
Eating “accessible” or fast food: When we are stressed, and not planning, we tend to eat the first thing we see and/or what is readily available and accessible, which is not always the healthiest options. You may also be more likely to drive through a fast-food place, rather than taking the time and mental energy to cook a balanced, healthy meal.
Exercising less: With all the demands on your schedule, exercising may be one of the last things on your to-do list. If so, you’re not alone. A long commute and hours spent sitting behind a desk can leave little opportunity for physical activity.
Skipping meals: When you are juggling a dozen things at once, eating a healthy meal can drop down in the list of priorities. You might find yourself skipping breakfast because you’re running late or not eating lunch because there’s just too much on your to-do list.
Sleeping less: Many people report trouble sleeping when they’re stressed. And research has linked sleep deprivation to a slower metabolism. Feeling overtired can also reduce willpower and contribute to unhealthy eating habits.
How to Break the Cycle of Stress and Weight Gain
When you’re stressed out, healthy behaviors likely eating properly and exercising regularly can easily fall by the wayside. Maintaining a schedule and/or routine can help make these healthy behaviors a habit and combat stress-related weight changes. Here are a few strategies that can help you break the cycle of stress and weight gain:
Make exercise a priority. Exercising is a critical component of stress reduction and weight management. It can help you address both issues simultaneously, so it’s essential for warding off stress-related weight gain. Whether you go for a walk during your lunch break or hit the gym after work, incorporate regular exercise into your routine.
Eat healthier comfort foods. You don’t need carbs or fats to make you feel better.One of the few studies testing the effectiveness of comfort foods in improving mood found that eating relatively healthier comfort foods, such as air-popped popcorn, is just as likely to boost a negative mood as “unhealthy” foods.6 Making sure your pantry is stocked with these types of foods will make it easier to grab a healthier option during times of high stress.
Practice mindful eating. Focusing on what you’re eating—without distractions—may help lower stress, promote weight loss, and prevent weight gain. One study found that overweight women who had mindfulness-based stress and nutrition training were better able to avoid emotional eating, and had lower stress levels, which led to less belly fat over time.7 Next time you eat a meal, try enjoying it without the distraction of your phone or the TV.
Keep a food journal. Paying attention to your eating habits can help you gain control over your food consumption. A 2011 review of studies that examined the link between self-monitoring and weight loss found that those who kept a food journal were more likely to manage their weight than those who didn’t.8 So whether you use an app to track your food intake or you write everything in a food diary, being more mindful of what you put in your mouth could improve your eating habits.
Drink more water. It’s easy to confuse thirst for hunger. But confusing these two cravings can lead you to eat more calories than your body needs, prompting weight gain. It’s much easier to identify hunger after you’ve eliminated any mild dehydration. If it’s only been a couple of hours since you’ve eaten and you feel hungry, try drinking some water first. If you still feel hungry, then grab a snack.
Incorporate stress-relief strategies into your daily life. Whether you enjoy yoga or you find solace in reading a good book, try adding simple stress relieverslike taking a deep breath, listening to music, or going on a walk into your daily routine. Doing so can reduce your cortisol levels, helping you manage your weight.
A Word From Verywell
If your stress and/or stress-related weight gain is causing you distress or making it unmanageable to fulfill daily responsibilities, it may be time to seek professional health. Psychotherapy, and in particular cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), can be very helpful in teaching coping skills to better manage stress and weight.
People who feel intensely might be labeled as highly sensitive, gifted, or having a mental illness.
With little awareness, many emotionally intense adults confess to having felt lonely and misunderstood.
Signs of being an emotionally intense person include having a grave concern for the wider world.
Some people feel more than others.
They are often told—spoken and unspoken—that they are “too much,” “too intense,” “too sensitive,” “too emotional,” and that their behaviors are either “too dramatic” or “too timid.”
People who feel more deeply and intensely than others are more aware of subtleties; their brain processes information and reflects on it more deeply. People with emotional intensity are sometimes described as sensitive, caring, and attentive. At their best, they can be exceptionally perceptive, intuitive, and keenly observant of the subtleties of the environment. Yet they are also overwhelmed by the constant waves of social nuances and others’ emotional and psychic energies.
They tend to notice and remember a lot and can be overstimulated when things are too chaotic or novel for a long time. This ability to feel deeply and intensely often starts from a young age when emotion regulation skills are lacking and can lead to psychological wounding associated with shame and loneliness.
Growing awareness of this trait has generated much inquiry, yet psychologists have so far been unable to agree on a single defining attribute. If you identify with the description, there are a few possibilities:
This may mean that you are one of the 15-20 percent of the population wired differently as a Highly Sensitive Person.
This may mean that you fall on the right side of the bell curve as a gifted person.
This may mean you do have or are mislabeled as having a mental illness such as Emotion Regulation Disorder, ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, or Dysthymia (chronic depression).
The world is gradually coming to embrace the concept of neurodiversity — the idea that particular groups of the population are “different” from the norm, with specific kinds of sensitivity, intensity, and giftedness. However, with little awareness, many emotionally intense adults confessed to having felt lonely and misunderstood for years, being plagued with self-doubts, and living with a lingering sense of existential loneliness.
Emotional intensity comprises of the following five components:
1. Emotional Depth, Velocity, and Complexity
You experience emotions to an unusual level of depth, complexity, and intensity. This makes you feel incredibly alive, sometimes painfully so.
You have a constant stream of both positive and negative feelings, sometimes together, sometimes from one to another in a short period.
You soar high into bliss and plunge low into gloom in rapid succession.
You know the meaning of despair, but you also know beauty and rapture. When art or music moves you, you are flooded with waves of joy, or get transcended into a state of ecstasy.
You are passionate, even if you do not show it on the outside.
You tend to form strong emotional connections with people, places, and things, and sometimes that makes separation difficult.
You experience life with much tenderness and nostalgia.
A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death.
—Pearl Buck
2. Deep Empathy and Sensitivity
From an early age, you have a grave concern for others and the wider world. When others are abused or mistreated, you feel as if it is happening to you.
You may resonate with traits of being an “empath,” due to your innate ability to feel and be affected by other people’s energies. In social situations, you can intuitively identify with others’ emotions, and you may feel that you “absorb” their physical and mental ailment, to the point where you get overwhelmed.
Because of your responsiveness and insights into others’ pain, you tend to form soulful and meaningful connections. You are loyal, idealistic, and romantic.
However, being naturally open and sensitive also means you are vulnerable to relational injuries from a young age. Your natural tendency to be open and loving may get stunted due to early rejections and trauma.
Having a heightened sensory system means that you are extremely sensitive to your surroundings. You have an increased appreciation of sensual pleasures such as music, language, and art, as well as intense reactions to sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. This may also cause you to feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable with too much sensory input. You may be sensitive to loud noises, strong smells, or tactile sensations such as clothing tags and rough surfaces.
3. Highly Acute Perceptivity
Being perceptively gifted means you can sense and perceive things that others miss. With acute awareness, you can see beyond superficiality, grasp patterns, and make linkages.
Insights, intuition, and the ability to read several layers of reality allow you to assess people and situations rapidly. You can sense incongruence and their intentions, thoughts, and feelings that are underneath the facades.
You have a sense of knowing when something is about to happen, or about other people’s inner worlds.
However, your abilities do not necessarily make life easy. You are bothered by hypocrisies and unfairness and struggle with inauthentic people and situations. You cannot help but be the one who points out the “elephant in the room,” but your perceptiveness may seem intimidating to those who felt “seen through.”
In a family situation, you may be scapegoated to be the one who carries the painful truth that is unsaid in the facade of normalcy. You may carry the role of being the “problematic one”, the scapegoat, or the black sheep.
You have an innate urge to push the boundaries of conformity, to question or to challenge traditions, particularly those that seem meaningless or unfair. Paired with a strong sense of justice, you are often frustrated with corruption and inequality in the world.
Although this may indicate a challenging life path for you, you also have the potential to thrive as a visionary leader.
You may constantly feel older than others around you, like an “old soul” that has somehow lost your roots.
4. A Rich Inner World with Sensual, Imaginary, and Intellectual Excitability.
You have a rich inner world that is imbued with words, images, metaphors, visualizations, vivid fantasies, and dreams.
As a child, you might have resorted to your imagined world as a haven in times of emotional turmoils.
Intellectually, you are inquisitive and reflective. You have a strong need to seek to understand, to expand your horizons, to gain knowledge, and to analyze your mental content.
With an ability to process information with speed and depth, you absorb and surge through information very quickly. You are likely to be an avid reader and a keen observer. You may appear critical and impatient with others who cannot keep up with you.
You also can integrate intellectual concepts with your deep feelings for original conceptions. You may have a constant stream of ideas, sometimes so many that you feel you cannot keep up with it.
You tend to experience zealous enthusiasm about certain topics and endeavors. When you get excited about an idea, your mind runs faster than your words can keep up, or you find yourself talking rapidly, perhaps even interrupting others.
When you become absorbed in your love for a piece of art, literature, theatre, or music, the outside world ceases to exist.
You are highly capable of contemplative thinking and self-reflection. The flip side is that you may be occupied with obsessive thoughts and scrupulous self-examination. You may also suffer from perfectionism and self-criticism.
You are extremely open-minded. You are sensitive to the spiritual world or were drawn to the spiritual path from a young age. This may or may not manifest as some form of psychic ability.
5. Creative Potential and Existential Angst
You have always been concerned with the big questions of life. From a young age, you may experience existential depression and have felt grief over the meaninglessness of life, death, and loneliness.
You might have felt frustrated that those around you were not prepared to discuss and consider these weighty concerns.
Your existential angst may manifest as an unnamed sense of urgency, a constant impulse to move forward. You get a constant “niggling” feeling that there is something important that you should be doing, even when your vision is not clear yet. You live with a feeling that somehow time is running out, and you are not doing what you should be doing.
For some unnamed reason, you feel a weight of responsibility on your shoulder, even for things you are not responsible for.
Your angst propels you to learn, to expand, and to advance in your life path, but it can also paralyze you. You may be prone to creative blockages such as “artist’s block,” “writer’s block,” procrastination, the fear of exposure, or the Imposter Syndrome (the feeling that you are a fraud).
Nevertheless, you have always known deep down that you are dissatisfied with a life that is meaningless and task-driven.
You may be a polymath, or a “multipotentialitite” — someone with multiple interests and creative pursuits, and not just one calling.
When you have a strong vision or innovative idea, you can feel the split between belongingness and authentic expression — you want to express with your full, authentic self but you are worried that it means being rejected, or leaving people behind.
The above conceptualization of the emotional intensity trait inevitably involves some simplification of human complexity. Any typology is necessary a simplification compared with the real, unique human being in front of us. We as a human species are both different and much the same, in a paradoxical unity. We must not forget that what always holds more weight than the theory is the here-and-now-ness of the living human beings, who are constantly changing and evolving.
The Gifts and the Perils
Dr. Mary-Elaine Jacobson, the author of The Gifted Adult, has identified some of the top criticisms a gifted individual often faces:
“Why don’t you slow down?”
“You worry about everything!”
“You are so sensitive and dramatic.”
“You are too driven.”
“Who do you think you are?”
Emotional Intensity is not a pathology. For someone who is emotionally intense, however, the pain that comes with a pervasive sense of being “too much” is not to be taken lightly – a person can be made to feel ‘wrong” for the most part of his or her life, and internalizing this sense of shame can lead to depression, low self-esteem, inability to self-regulate, and inner emptiness.
The good news is, with the right information and support, liberation from the pain of “being too much” is possible. Once you have discovered the origin of your differences, you may begin a journey of retrieving long-lost gifts.
Suddenly, your whole life history makes sense. You realize that a lot of the shame and depression they bear come from ill-informed and uninvited commentary about your unique qualities, and people’s fear of what is unfamiliar. In fact, your high level of awareness of subtleties is not only unusual but also extremely precious.
As you step into embracing your unique qualities, you learn to trust your unique ways of relating to the world and can connect to what you have to offer. Themes such as authentic existence, the meaning of life, and purpose of being come to the foreground of awareness, and here you are, embarking on a true journey towards your full potential:
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
As triumphant as I can be, I’ve gotten over the ‘Acknowledgement’ phase of the NRS. Although I’ll have other stages to move on to, the most effective of these will be the ‘Apologies’ phase. For me, I was never able to confront any of my family: denial-misfocussed-faith over family-preaching. Although the shame (victim-blaming) that got placed on ‘anyone who pulls away from the church, breaks God’s heart (& our bank account)’. After I had pulled away the 1st time (pre-accident), I felt free-er. After my ‘loving-caring-church family’ “thankfully brought Tony back into the flock” (freshly after sever car accident), god-squad must’ve thought they’d won their way to my heart (& bank account). 🏴☠️
Emotional abuse can lead to mental and physical symptoms that shouldn’t be ignored. But what works for one person may not work for another. And not everyone is ready to begin recovery right away.
When you’re ready to take the next step, you may find it helpful to start with any of the following tips.
Reach out for support
You don’t have to go through this alone. Talk to a trusted friend or family member who will listen without judgment. If that’s not an option, consider joining a support group for people who have experienced abuse or trauma.
Get physically active
Exercise can do more than just keep you more physically fit.
Research showsTrusted Source that doing moderate-intensity aerobics or a mix of moderate aerobic and muscle-strengthening activity for at least 90 minutes a week can:
Even less intense physical activity, such as a daily walk, can be beneficial.
If you’re not interested in home workouts, consider joining a class. That could mean swimming, martial arts, or even dance — whatever gets you moving.
Get social
Social isolation can happen so slowly that you don’t even notice, and that’s no good. Friends can help you heal. That doesn’t mean you have to talk to them about your problems (unless you want to). Simply enjoying the company of others and feeling accepted may be enough to boost your spirits.
Consider doing the following:
Call an old friend you haven’t spoken to in a long time just to chat.
Invite a friend to the movies or out for a bite to eat.
Accept an invitation even when your instinct is to stay home alone.
Join a class or club to meet new people.
Mind your diet
Emotional abuse can wreak havoc with your diet. It can lead you to eat too little, too much, or all the wrong things.
Here are some tips that can help keep your energy level up and minimize mood swings:
Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and lean protein.
Emotional abuse can cause physical and mental issues, ranging from muscle tension and feelings of shame to insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder.
When thinking about abuse, physical abuse may come to mind first. But abuse can come in many forms. Emotional abuse is just as serious as physical abuse and oftenTrusted Source precedes it. Sometimes they happen together.
If you’re wondering whether it’s happening to you, here are some of the signs:
yelling
name-calling
spewing insults or otherwise ridiculing you
attempting to make you question your own sanity (gaslighting)
invading your privacy
punishing you for not going along with what they want
trying to control your life
isolating you from family and friends
making subtle or overt threats
If you’ve been emotionally abused, know that it’s not your fault. There’s also not a “correct” way to feel about it.
Emotional abuse isn’t normal, but your feelings are.
Continue reading to learn about the effects of emotional abuse and how to get help.
StudiesTrusted Source show that severe emotional abuse can be as powerful as physical abuse. Over time, both can contribute to low self-esteem and depression.
If left unresolved, these conditions can continue into adulthood and leave you vulnerable to more mistreatment.
Most children who are abused don’t grow up to abuse others. But some research suggests that they may be more likely than adults who weren’t abused during childhood to engage in toxic behaviors.
Adults who were abused or neglected as children may also be more likely to develop chronic health problems, including:
Emotional abuse doesn’t always lead to PTSD, but it can.
PTSD can develop after a frightening or shocking event. Your doctor may make a PTSD diagnosis if you experience high levels of stress or fear over a long period of time. These feelings are usually so severe that they interfere with your daily functioning.
Other symptoms of PTSD include:
angry outbursts
being easily startled
negative thoughts
insomnia
nightmares
reliving the trauma (flashbacks) and experiencing physical symptoms such as rapid heartbeat
