I was verbally abused by my father for most of my life (I'm 48 now). My mother has low self esteem and took his abuse as well. Most of the men in my life have also emotionally abused me in one way or another, so I guess at this point I don't feel like I deserve to be treated well. No one has ever shown me by their actions that I do. I recently became friends with a guy who did give me the support and encouragement I've been looking for, but for whatever reason, he doesn't want to hang out anymore. So now I'm feeling even worse about myself than before. I don't want my self worth to depend on other people, but I don't know how to get out of that way of thinking.

I've never been in therapy because I've never been able to afford it.