TIP: So as not to encourage abusive behavior, stop reinforcing self-destructive behavior and high emotional reactivity to friends and families

Our behavior is shaped by watching others in our formative years. Between the ages of 2 and 3, the predominant mode of responding to our social environment makes a switch. Before then, it comes from from watching our family, whose attention is essential to our survival, and following their model. This is the time when our mental models of how to behave - referred to by some therapists as schemas - are formed. After age 3, our social behavior depends mostly on previously laid down neural brain tracts based on our past experiences. We respond as if on autopilot and usually do not even realize that consciously. These neural pathways develop sheathes of a chemical called myelin, which greatly increases the speed of nerve impulse conduction. These automatic behavior tendencies can be over-ruled by the thinking part of the brain - the cerebral cortex - but are nonetheless very powerful.The behavior of primary attachment figures like parents are the most potent triggers for automatic behavior throughout our entire lifetimes. Read more on the source: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/matter-personality/201503/empathy-child-abuser