An invalidating environment refers to a situation in which the child’s feelings and statements about feelings are disregarded or labeled as wrong or invalid. For example, a parent might tell a child “Don’t say you hate your brother, you know you love your brother.” Or, “Don’t be stupid, there is nothing scary about the dark.” Or “shut up or I’ll give you something to cry about.” Overall, in an invalidating environment, the child’s feelings and actions are criticized, punished or pathologized, and the child is told to control her emotions without being taught how to do so. Of course, it is also very invalidating to be physically or sexually abused. Individuals with borderline personality disorder frequently describe a history of childhood sexual abuse and this is regarded by Linehan as a particularly extreme form of invalidation.