Sort:  

I disagree. We're talking about different degrees of the same problem. The withdrawal of love is always an assault. Even when perpetrated on the self. The words are still applicable, even though no outside actor directly lays hands on the suffering person. Sometimes the person cries themselves to sleep; sometimes they end up physically harming themselves or others as a result.

Okay .... but just so you know, I'm a humor writer. Self-deprecating humor is just one tool in my box. And my wife won't let me use power tools, so there's plenty of room in there.

I'm a bit of a philosopher, and a Buddhist. Humor itself is a bit of harmless violence. It's the careful application and relief of stress to produce the laugh response, which is thought to be an evolutionary response designed to signal the passage of a threat to tribe mates.

Just something to think about when you write. If you know what a person fears, you can always make them laugh. If you can make them laugh, then you know what they fear.