Unhealthy family relationships
Unhealthy families often make poor choices or do not reinforce their family structure. The result is often a broken home or problems within the family unit. In unhealthy families, the parents often engage in self -loathing or critical behaviour. They often treat each other and their children disrespectfully and are not there to lend support through difficult situations. An unhealthy family may disassociate from one another by spending more time playing video games, watching TV, being on the Internet or the working hours of the parents.
Effects an unhealthy family relationship has on children
Unhealthy families also result in a troubled child, and I don’t mean troubled as in the child isn’t well behaved I mean troubled emotionally and mentally. The saying that children are like sponges absorbing the world around them is especially true of the emotional atmosphere that surrounds them. Children are sensitive to the tensions between their parents and are directly influenced by the way their parents interact. When parents are having their arguments they don’t realise that they have a little audience watching them, they tend to ignore their child/ren and hope that they are preoccupying themselves with something else then listening to their heated argument with their spouse. When children sense something is wrong between their parents, it often increases their anxiety and perpetual worry. They may start doing things to cut off their emotions. If they are afraid, sad or insecure, they may try to numb these emotions with such behaviour’s as overeating or excessively playing video games. If they don’t feel they can talk to their parents, or their anger or hurt involves their parents, children may start showing their feelings indirectly: throwing tantrums over toys, getting unusually clingy toward a parent, losing interest in school, getting in fights with other kids. No matter what a child’s release is for his or her emotions, one feeling that tends to impact any child whose parents are having problems is guilt. When parents aren’t getting along, kids very often take the blame upon themselves and feel the pressure to make things okay within their family. They often have thoughts like, “If I had been better, this wouldn’t have happened.” Sadly, these children are often emotionally abandoned at a time when they especially need help making sense of their feelings of turmoil. Though children are less mature than their parents, they often feel they must take care of the emotional needs of everyone; a pressure that can leave a child feeling depressed and stressed. Sometimes parents will even call on a child to take sides in a parental dispute, thus dragging the child into the middle of the conflict and forcing him or her to participate. Other times, however, parents’ demands on their children are more subtle, and these parents are unaware of the strains they are placing on their children simply by feeling bad in themselves or in their relationship. Parents who don’t meet each other’s emotional needs frequently turn to their kids for support. Though, often unconscious, this places an unnatural and destructive burden on a child.
for more information and help you can go to:
www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/themes/families
Unhealthy families often make poor choices or do not reinforce their family structure. The result is often a broken home or problems within the family unit. In unhealthy families, the parents often engage in self -loathing or critical behaviour. They often treat each other and their children disrespectfully and are not there to lend support through difficult situations. An unhealthy family may disassociate from one another by spending more time playing video games, watching TV, being on the Internet or the working hours of the parents.
Effects an unhealthy family relationship has on children
Unhealthy families also result in a troubled child, and I don’t mean troubled as in the child isn’t well behaved I mean troubled emotionally and mentally. The saying that children are like sponges absorbing the world around them is especially true of the emotional atmosphere that surrounds them. Children are sensitive to the tensions between their parents and are directly influenced by the way their parents interact. When parents are having their arguments they don’t realise that they have a little audience watching them, they tend to ignore their child/ren and hope that they are preoccupying themselves with something else then listening to their heated argument with their spouse. When children sense something is wrong between their parents, it often increases their anxiety and perpetual worry. They may start doing things to cut off their emotions. If they are afraid, sad or insecure, they may try to numb these emotions with such behaviour’s as overeating or excessively playing video games. If they don’t feel they can talk to their parents, or their anger or hurt involves their parents, children may start showing their feelings indirectly: throwing tantrums over toys, getting unusually clingy toward a parent, losing interest in school, getting in fights with other kids. No matter what a child’s release is for his or her emotions, one feeling that tends to impact any child whose parents are having problems is guilt. When parents aren’t getting along, kids very often take the blame upon themselves and feel the pressure to make things okay within their family. They often have thoughts like, “If I had been better, this wouldn’t have happened.” Sadly, these children are often emotionally abandoned at a time when they especially need help making sense of their feelings of turmoil. Though children are less mature than their parents, they often feel they must take care of the emotional needs of everyone; a pressure that can leave a child feeling depressed and stressed. Sometimes parents will even call on a child to take sides in a parental dispute, thus dragging the child into the middle of the conflict and forcing him or her to participate. Other times, however, parents’ demands on their children are more subtle, and these parents are unaware of the strains they are placing on their children simply by feeling bad in themselves or in their relationship. Parents who don’t meet each other’s emotional needs frequently turn to their kids for support. Though, often unconscious, this places an unnatural and destructive burden on a child.
for more information and help you can go to:
www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/themes/families