Introduction
Anxiety, love, despair, and bitterness are common human emotions that everybody shares with embitterment. When asked to recall unpleasant previous experiences, around one in two members of the general population report feeling resentful (Lee & Kim, 2019). Embitterment is a response to injustice, humiliation, and betrayal, which are the principal social stresses that adults experience. Embitterment is a “masochistic adjustment response” that delivers a sensation of control, even if it results in self-destruction (Lee & Kim, 2019). Injustice may be seen as an aggressive act, but resentment is a fierce reaction that aims to restore justice and uphold one’s self-worth (Lee & Kim, 2019).
When abused, children grow with burning emotions of dissatisfaction, self-criticism, melancholy, and desire for retribution. It can manifest as a regular emotion, a symptom of another mental illness, or, in more severe cases, as post traumatic embitterment disorder (PTED), a type of mental disorder.
Prior Studies of the Research
The term “post-traumatic embitterment disease (PTED)” was coined by German psychiatrist Michael Linden. PTED is the term used to describe the mental response to a significant yet unusual incident, such as a conflict at work. The patient views this situation as unfair and a betrayal of fundamental principles. An ongoing sense of resentment is the main feature of the response pattern. Kraepelin also spoke about pathological embitterment, a strong and enduring response to a single instance of injustice, humiliation, and betrayal (Bou Khalil & Guillaume, 2020). It has been shown that it is crucial to recognize adult embitterment clinically since it is a common emotion that may explain psychological distress, dysfunctional behavior, and sometimes even dangerously hostile behavior (Linden, 2020). In general, it may harm a person’s life, need particular care, and result in issues at work and sick leave. Humans naturally quarrel with one another, denigrate and denigrate others, and even steal from others.
There is strong evidence that social stresses that are severe and common at an early age include emotions of unfairness, shame, and betrayal. Happiness is not the only aspect of childhood. Children go through stressful, upsetting, unpleasant, or even terrifying situations (Linden & Noack, 2018). Some emotions, like the dread of tests in school or sibling rivalry and conflicts, are a regular part of growing up. Others, like being the target of marital abuse or being tormented at school, are unusual and traumatic. Even horrific events may happen in the Pisa research. Linden and Noack (2018) posit that in Germany, it was shown that 16% of 15-year-old children were, on average, the targets of bullying at least a few times each month (268).
According to German crime statistics, crimes against children and minors occurred in 154.765 instances in 2018 (Gao et al., 2022). According to the General Strain Theory (GST), stresses, especially those with large magnitude, are seen as unfair, linked to poor social control, and pressure or incentive for illegal coping, which enhance the chance of crime (Gao et al., 2022). Examples include being rejected by parents, becoming a victim of crime, needing money badly, and being prejudiced. These stresses promote corruption for several reasons, including producing unfavorable emotions that enhance demand for remedial action.
In child psychotherapy, the therapist could first assist the patient in providing a thorough account of what transpired (factual knowledge) and contextualizing the specific circumstances. The concept of “value relativism,” which holds that different people may evaluate the same situation very differently depending on their values, is significant but challenging (Cao-Lei et al., 2022). Therefore, children subjected to mental, physical, psychological, or verbal abuse can develop the disorder. Embitterment disorder needs to be suppressed by treating children ideally and ensuring their emotional growth is nurtured.
References
Bou Khalil, R., & Guillaume, S. (2020). Is post-traumatic embitterment disorder a yet unknown comorbidity of anorexia nervosa? Medical Hypotheses, 140, 109670. Web.
Cao-Lei, L., Saumier, D., Fortin, J., & Brunet, A. (2022). A narrative review of the epigenetics of post-traumatic stress disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder treatment. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13. Web.
Gao, Y., Wang, X., Tan, L., Yang, T., Shi, L., Chen, H., Jiang, W., & Yuan, Y. (2022). Characteristics of post‐traumatic embitterment disorder of inpatients in a General Hospital in China. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 29(4), 1426–1432. Web.
Lee, J. H., & Kim, S. (2019). Exposure to negative life events and post-traumatic embitterment symptoms in young adults in Korea: Cumulative and differential effects. Psychopathology, 52(1), 18–25. Web.
Linden, M. (2020). Querulant delusion and post-traumatic embitterment disorder. International Review of Psychiatry, 32(5-6), 396–402. Web.
Linden, M., & Noack, I. (2018). Suicidal and aggressive ideation associated with feelings of embitterment. Psychopathology, 51(4), 245–251. Web.