So you’ve gathered your strength and gotten yourself out of an abusive relationship or a domestic violence in UK. You should admire this about yourself. As if enduring the abuse wasn’t hard enough, now you’re left feeling with a sense of loss, lack of direction and possible self-doubt. The road to recovering from the emotional damage won’t be easy and it will take time to move on from it but there are some things you can do to take care of yourself and cope with the aftermath of abuse.

After leaving a domestically abusive relationship you might be feeling:

Alone

Alone Disoriented

Scared

Anxious or depressed

Emotionally drained

A loss of self-confidence and self-esteem

Unable to make decisions confidently

Here are some tips for taking care of yourself and coping:

Allow yourself time and space to feel everything. For you to process your emotions you may need to be flooded by them first before you can start facing them one by one. Keep a journal of how you’re feeling, how doing every day things make you feel. Keep track of strong emotions like fear and watch it dissipate over time. Talk to close friends, family or a counsellor to help you see the situation from other perspectives and to allow you to process your feelings. Also, knowing you are surrounded with love will restore some of your sense of security. Distract yourself with hobbies, activities you enjoy, work and give your mind some time away from thinking about your feelings or your past experience. If you are experiencing moments of intense anxiety or stress you could try relaxing activities such as deep breathing, taking a bath, meditation or yoga. Pamper yourself by going to get a massage, get a new haircut and giving yourself some beauty home treatments. Avoid being around people who tend to be negative or energy draining; you need that precious energy to take care of yourself. Get some exercise a few times a week. Maybe sign up for a self-defence course so you can get fit while learning to defend yourself. Knowing you can defend yourself can give you added sense of security and independence. Spend time in the sun and in nature or around a pet. Make a list of what you want to accomplish in the near or far future and start thinking of how you can do so. Gain confidence back by setting goals and accomplishing them.