Abuse manipulates and twists a childs natural sense of trust and love. Her innocent feelings are belittled or mocked and she learns to ignore her feelings. She cant afford to feel the full range of feelings in her body while shes being abusedpain, outrage, hate, vengeance, confusion, arousal. So she short-circuits them and goes numb. For many children, any expression of feelings, even a single tear, is cause for more severe abuse. Again, the only recourse is to shut down. Feelings go underground.

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