Difficulty accepting love
“I have trouble accepting any kind of love because growing up, it was always given with strings attached or used as a tool for manipulation. I don’t trust that others have the capacity to love me unconditionally, so I hide away parts of myself, never allowing myself to experience the vulnerability that comes with being loved, chosen, and accepted by others.”
For some people, it’s easier to love than to be loved. Because other people deserve love, but they themselves do not. Since love may have been conditional in childhood, it may seem unreasonable to receive love “for free”. Alternatively, people with past trauma may feel like they’re “tricking” people into liking them. They may think, “If they knew the true me, they would hate me” because they were made to believe that their “true selves” are unlovable.
