The Abuse of the Word 'Abuse'

I was sorting through old usenet posts and I came across some very wise words from an old friend:

And I will say, about this monotonous repetition of the word ABUSE where it doesn't really apply:

-- If I feel I have been abused, it *may* indicate the other party acted abusively; or, it *may* be that I am so identified with my victimhood that I re-cast all problems I have in the present as reenactments of the abuse Iexperienced in the past.

-- Such wolf-crying of abuse is an insult to one's own experiences of abuse earlier in life, and to others' experiences of true abuse as well. It cheapens the truth and allows one to avoid the opportunity to grow out of victimhood here and now.

-- If I subjectively experienced a situation as abusive (eg, ase-d), and I voluntarily came back to it, who is the abuser now? And what evidence does this give of my miraculous recovery? The recovering people I know act very differently.

Oh, and I think I offended someone's patron saint. Oops.