Emotional Abuse
Psychological abuse, also often referred to as emotional mental abuse, is a form of abuse characterised by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.
Emotional abuse is a bigger problem than you might think. When people think of domestic abuse, they often wrongly associate with someone who has been physically assaulted. But not all abusive relationships involve violence. Many men and women suffer from emotional abuse, which is no less destructive and harmful, but is often minimised or overlooked-even by the person being abused.
What Is Emotional Abuse?
The aim of emotional abuse is to lower your feelings of self-worth and independence. If you’re the victim of emotional abuse, you may end up feeling that there is no way out of the relationship or that without your abusive partner you have nothing.
Emotional abuse includes verbal abuse such as name-calling, blaming, and acts deliberately engineered to cause public or private embarrassment and shame. Isolation, intimidation, and controlling behavior are also characteristic of emotional abuse.
Emotional abuse can be just as damaging as physical abuse – sometimes even more so – because it can undermine what we think about ourselves. Emotional abuse is not always limited to our romantic relationships; it can happen between parent and child, among relatives and between friends.
Are You Worried You Are Being Mentally Abused?
Examples of emotional abuse can include:
- humiliation, degradation, judging
- being made fun of in front of others
- being told you are too sensitive
- being told your opinion or feelings are “wrong”
- being treated like a child
- being told your behavior is “inappropriate”
- being made to feel as if you must get permission before going somewhere or before making decisions
- being made to feel inferior
- having your accomplishments, your aspirations, or your plans belittled
- being accused repeatedly of something when you know it isn’t true
- rarely getting an apology
- getting the “silent treatment”
- experiencing a lack of empathy or consideration for your feelings
Economic or financial control is another subtle form of emotional abuse, where the abuser will attempt to manipulate you using money or basic necessities.
Examples of this can include:
- Rigidly controlling your finances
- Withholding money or credit cards
- Making you account for every penny you spend
- Withholding basic necessities (food, clothes, medication)
- Restricting you to an allowance
- Preventing you from working or choosing your own career
- Sabotaging your job (making you miss work, calling constantly)
- Stealing from you or taking your money
Warning Signs
It’s impossible to judge other people’s relationships, or to know with certainty what goes on behind closed doors, but there are some tell-tale signs and symptoms of emotional abuse. If you witness any warning signs of abuse in a friend, family member, or co-worker, take them very seriously.
People who are experiencing emotional being abuse may:
- Seem afraid or anxious to please their partner
- Go along with everything their partner says and does
- Check in often with their partner to report where they are and what they’re doing
- Receive frequent, harassing phone calls from their partner
- Talk about their partner’s temper, jealousy, or possessiveness
- Be restricted from seeing family and friends
- Rarely go out in public without their partner
- Have limited access to money, credit cards, or the car
- Have very low self-esteem, even if they used to be confident
- Show major personality changes (e.g. an outgoing person becomes withdrawn)
- Be depressed, anxious, or suicidal
If you are experiencing emotional abuse it is really important that you seek help. Emotional abuse can be really damaging, even if it doesn’t leave physical scars. If possible, talk to friends and family, or consult your GP. See our links section below for further information.
Links
