Why I Stayed So Long: The Trap of Silent Abuse
People ask, “Why didn’t you leave sooner?”
But the truth is, when you're living inside silent emotional abuse, you don’t always know it’s abuse.
Why It Was Never "Just Miscommunication"
For years, I told myself that we just didn’t communicate well.
That maybe I was too emotional. Too sensitive. Too much.
I bent myself in every direction trying to be “clearer,” “calmer,” “easier to live with.”
But it wasn’t miscommunication.
It was manipulation.
What Is Silent Gaslighting? And Why It’s So Hard to Name
I didn’t know what to call it at first.
There were no screaming matches. No ultimatums. Just a long stretch of confusion and loneliness inside my own home.
He never yelled—until the very end.
He didn’t hit me.
He didn’t even argue most of the time.
He just… said nothing.