Your result

The Neglect Wound

You learned to exist without taking up space.

Your results have been sent to your inbox.

The neglect wound comes from having your needs chronically go unmet — not through cruelty, but through absence, distraction, or a household organized around everyone else's needs but yours. You learned to stop needing. That was survival. It is not your permanent state.

What this means

Neglect doesn't have to be intentional to leave a mark. Emotional absence, distraction, or simply not being "seen" are enough.

The belief that your needs don't matter — or that asking makes you a burden — was learned, not born.

The work is learning to receive. Not just to give, to perform, to manage — but to actually receive care.

I wrote about this in

You Are the Love You Seek

by Nikita Datar