Nightmares And Sleep Disorders

Dealing with trauma from emotional abuse doesn’t stop when it’s time for bed. You might spend hours on end in bed meditating on someone’s abusive behavior or reliving painful scenes in your head.

When you’re sleep-deprived, you have less energy to deal with the abuse, and your overall well-being and mood suffer, making you an easy target for more abuse, which keeps you awake when you desperately need rest.

And even if you’re able to fall asleep, the trauma doesn’t just switch off when you zonk out. Your brain will want to keep figuring this out. And since you can’t control or shut off the subconscious video loop, you relive the trauma in new ways.

The nightmares might stay with you even after you end an abusive relationship and can easily be associated with post-traumatic stress disorder.