Lyra

“They may find the world a terrifying and hostile place that can only be survived with constant, very great effort. It is typical of a neglected person that, whatever is not right in their life, there is often no narrative to account for its origin, in the way that a person who has suffered abuse (or a marked loss or a similar event) will have a narrative of, “This happened and it affected me in a certain way, and that’s the reason that I am as I am now.” A person who has been neglected may not have such a narrative but instead may be left to feel that they are just odd. They may in the past have been blamed for being odd and not responding “like a normal person.” Usually they feel dreadfully ashamed of how they are.”
― Kathrin A. Stauffer, Emotional Neglect and the Adult in Therapy: Lifelong Consequences to a Lack of Early Attunement