Parenting style where I grew up tend to be "don't explain, don't let your children ask, have them just follow." Corporal punishment is also normal, with being hit by clothes hangers, belts, or really, whatever they can get hands on. If that's not enough, we are asked to "meditate and discover what actually went wrong" while kneeling on (sea) salt for at least fifteen minutes.

In one occasion, I was lasooed on the neck by a belt and having my face hit by the belt buckle. Of course, it was my fault, no questions asked. There was no explanation, and I was left alone in a room to recuperate.

Oh, did I even explain that I eventually learned (quite early on, actually) that I shouldn't behave in "destructive ways"? Quite early on, as far as I‌ remember, well, at least while my mom's around. Again, I should emphasize this: there was no explanation, no attempt to, they weren't supposed to.

And oh, counseling? Professional psychiatric help? Not a thing that is affordable where I‌ live. Not America, but might as well be a cheap clone of it.

[–] Anticorp@lemmy.ml 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That's awful. My best friend when I was a kid was subjected to much of the same thing by his mother. He said it was normal in black households. I had other black friends, but I only ever stayed the night at his house, so I can't substantiate his claim. Pretty much every time I was there his mother beat the shit out of him for some petty thing. It didn't seem normal. My mom spanked us, but his mom straight-up beat him.

There are online mental health groups, but idk if they're helpful or toxic. My guess is that they're probably toxic. For me personally, deciding to leave the past in the past, and be myself in the present, is what helped the most with childhood trauma. I hope you can find whatever works for you.

[–] megane_kun@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Thank you. I've come to more or less a similar conclusion with regards to my issues. I'll deal with what I can deal with, with what I have, but for everything else, I'll just leave it be, hopefully in the past.

Just as a note, I don't consider myself as having undergone the so-called Asian parenting, with parents employing not just corporal punishment, but also emotional blackmail to get their children to achieve academically, and save their faces; but I think it's the best word to describe what I've gone through. However, my siblings turned out alright (hopefully). I guess I‌ might have gone relatively unscathed had some things in my teenage years have gone differently.