The Zero family, when there is a predator at home

The concept of the Zero family was proposed by psychologist Iñaqui Piñuel in a book published in 2020 and with a title of the same name as the term. It refers to a highly toxic and, unfortunately, very common type of family. In these types of environments there are relationships marked by covert or explicit abuse, victimization and manipulation.

In the Zero family There is usually a member who can be classified as a built-in psychopath. These people can behave like real emotional predators. The worst thing is that in a dysfunctional family these figures are the ones who often end up directing everyone’s destinies.

In addition, the Zero family gives rise to emotional traces that can last a lifetime. Sometimes due to the frank psychological or physical abuse that occurs within them and other times due to the extreme abandonment and hostility that mark strong deficiencies in their members.

The integrated psychopath

Integrated psychopaths are people who appear “normal” or similar to any other person. However, They have no genuine emotions, they lack empathy and do not recognize moral standards. They tend to be friendly and charming, which gives them a lot of room to manipulate others.

The psychological structure of this type of people prevents them from experiencing remorse or feelings of guilt. For this reason, the only limit they put on their actions is their own convenience. The fact of hurting and being cruel to others is present in their behavior and this does not seem negative to them.

Iñaqui Piñuel points out that the majority of psychopaths belong to the “integrated” category. These types of people do not commit crimes and, in fact, many times they are not even explosive or violent. However, destroy morally and emotionally to the people around them. In the family, they are highly harmful.

The Zero Family

The Zero family begins with what Iñaqui Piñuel calls “zero love”. This corresponds to a relationship in which one of the two is an integrated psychopath. This usually has a very high power of seduction and whoever establishes a relationship with him or her is condemned to live a chain of traumas.

It is common for someone with a partner like this to live very painful experiences and, despite this, only realize that the relationship is being poisonous after it has caused you a lot of damage. In most cases, psychotherapy is needed to end such a relationship.

Before that happens, it is not unusual for a family to form. Children with psychopathic parents they grow by alternating the feeling of being lost and the normalization of abuse. They come to trivialize what happens inside their home, while carrying deep emotional wounds.

The effects of the Zero family

These types of families, highly toxic, leave traces that can be permanent. Children who have grown up in these types of environments They develop a very negative concept of themselves and feel that they only deserve the worst. Feelings of fear, shame and humiliation predominate.

For the same, It is not unusual for them to repeat the dramatic story on themselves. That is to say, they could choose someone with psychopathic traits as a partner. On the one hand, this is an effect of the trauma itself, which tends to repeat itself. On the other hand, they have learned to see as “normal” behavior that is not.

On the other hand, In the victims of this situation, something that Piñuel calls “attachment to the perpetrator” develops.. It is a pathological dependence, in which the victims become, so to speak, “addicted to suffering.” This reaction is mistakenly interpreted as “love.”

There is an exit

As a rule, children who grow up in a Zero family They become very vulnerable adults, with a tendency to create toxic bonds. They tend to repeat the patterns they learned and it is in this way that many lives end up locked in labyrinths that apparently have no exit.

This people are more at risk of becoming involved with abusive environments and people. Your “alarm system,” so to speak, has a fault. They are not clear about the limit of a “normal” and “abnormal” situation. For the same reason, they do not know how to save themselves.

The damage is profound and therefore requires a psychotherapy process.. The most important effects of the situation can be reversed with proper care. Thus, the damage can be repaired to a large extent, but it is necessary to work to achieve it.

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