Abusive Clichés that Really Do Hurt People, Such As; You Can't Expect Too Much, Be Glad You Have a Roof Over Your Head

How many times have you confided in someone with something that's bothering you, only to be told clichés like Love Conquers All, Be glad you have a roof over your head, If you can't say something nice about someone then don't say anything at all, Take it with a grain of salt, Their bark is worse than their bite, You can't expect too much, and then after hearing any of these, you actually feel worse about whatever was bothering you? Would you believe that as someone says one of these clichés to you, they're actually verbally abusing you?

One thing about verbal abuse that both the abuser and the abused may have in common is that they might not be aware of the abuse at hand. One of the many results of emotional and psychological programming is that it can cause a person to respond to a stimulus as more of a reflexive action rather than a planned or voluntary response. For example; while you were a child, if your parents often responded with "be thankful that you have a roof over your head" after you've demonstrated dissatisfaction with their not providing you with something, then it's quite likely that you could repeat this form of abuse with your children without even fully realizing that you're perpetuating the abuse that you endured as a child.

Next, I'll break each of these expressions down so that you can see why they're abusive and how they might negatively affect a person now or later.

Love Conquers All.
Whether or not it's ultimately true that love really does conquer all, it can cause a person to completely misjudge the love, or lack thereof, between them and their abusive partner. In the event of an abusive relationship, the abused might think that if they love their abusive partner more, then their partner will become less abusive towards them and reciprocate accordingly. This is absolutely not true and could cause the abuser to behave even more abusively.