Many people have heard the term “cycle of abuse” and know what it means. If you haven’t, here’s a Coles notes version: you experienced some form of abuse as a child (physical, emotional, mental, or sexual) and the cycle continued in one way or another when you became an adult. You either became the victim of abuse or you became the abuser. It’s a common occurrence among abuse victims and it falls under the category of “That’s all I know how to do,” or “I don’t know any other way of being.”