How to deal with Childhood Emotional Neglect? Expert explains

Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) is when our parents do not respond to our emotions in a healthy way in the childhood, which further leads to difficulty in emotional development in adulthood, leading to improper expressions and self-doubt. Psychologist Nicole LePera, who goes by the name The Holistic Psychologist on Instagram, is known for sharing interesting insights on relationships, emotional development and nuances of human emotions through her posts.

A day back, Nicole shared a video of herself addressing the issue of Childhood Emotional Neglect. She said that CEN happens when our parents minimise or do not pay enough attention to the emotions of our childhood. This leads to us having problems when we go on to create new relationships in our adulthood.

Nicole further added that there are lot of ways to know if we are suffering from CEN. One of the ways to know is by introspecting that were often have problems in reciprocating how we feel and hence, fail to ask for help even though we need to. She further added, that people suffering from CEN also are confused about their own emotions and feel difficulty in socialising with others.

CEN also affects the way people feel about them and their emotions. People feel extremely critical of their own emotions and the way they feel – they also doubt themselves and think that something might be wrong with them, and hence face difficulty in keeping and sustaining their relationship with their friends and family.

"Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) is so common in our society,” Nicole added. She also pointed out the ways in which Childhood Emotional Neglect can be addressed. She wrote that it is important to understand and reciprocate the emotions and start setting boundaries. It also also necessary to meet the needs in order to heal faster.