Running on Empty: Overcome Your Childhood Emotional Neglect

Bookey App 30 mins Book Summaries Knowledge Notes and More

This book is about a revolutionary topic: childhood emotional neglect. This is a psychological phenomenon rarely examined in mainstream publications. It explains how a person's lack of parental emotional feedback in childhood directly impacts their psychological state in adulthood. It also examines the relationship between parenting styles and the formation of a child’s personality.

First, we should pay special attention to the words “lack of emotional feedback”. This refers to the moments when parents are oblivious to their children's emotions. Since the parents fail to observe or mention anything, there are no further specific events and behaviors.

Emotional neglect is subtle. It is an internalized experience with almost no visible signs, and is difficult to detect and analyze. Therefore, it’s possible to see some parents take good care of their children on the surface, yet still inflict emotional neglect without realizing it.