The traces left by a lack of love in childhood

Lack of Empathy: When the Heart Hardens

Growing up without affection is like learning to walk in the dark. The child, not receiving  signs of love , does not easily develop his capacity to give it. He sometimes becomes insensitive to the suffering of others, not out of malice, but  from a lack of emotional reference points . Altruism is often born from the love received: when it is absent, it is a bit like  cooking without basic ingredients . The result? An  emotional coldness , sometimes confused with indifference.

Persistent Shame: A Deep-Rooted Evil

A child who doesn’t feel loved  doubts his or her own worth . He or she carries a lingering shame within him or her, believing that he or she is  “too much .” This misperception can follow him or her into adulthood, curbing his or her ambitions,  damaging his or her relationships , and fueling a sense of  never being good enough . It’s as if an inner voice, inherited from the past, is constantly whispering to him or her that he or she doesn’t deserve happiness.

Psychiatrist Serge Lebovici spoke of a  “feeling of profound unworthiness”  : the idea that one does not deserve to succeed, to love, or to be loved. A belief  that often hinders the drive toward fulfillment .