⚠️ What it means to have grown up with an unsafe parent
Growing up with an unsafe parent meant that violence or the threat of it hung in the air like smoke—you never felt completely safe in the place that should have protected you most.
You may have developed incredible threat assessment skills and an ability to sense when situations might turn dangerous. Your body learned to read the room for danger signs, making you skilled at recognizing red flags others miss. But this hypervigilance came at a cost—your nervous system became calibrated for chaos, making peaceful moments feel strangely uncomfortable or suspicious.
You may now find yourself either avoiding conflict at all costs or reacting strongly when you feel threatened—both strategies that once kept you safe. Physical closeness can make you jumpy, even with people you trust. You might struggle with distinguishing between true threats and false alarms because your danger radar was programmed by chaos rather than security.