Tell Me About Emotional Abuse

Emotional abuse is a form of abuse where one person or persons in a relationship subjects or exposes the other person or persons in the relationship to behavior that is psychologically harmful. Such situations where individuals are abusive emotionally are generally associated with an imbalance of power in the relationship. Examples of situations where individuals are abusive emotionally are bullying, child abuse, and instances in the workplace or in marriages.

When individuals are abusive emotionally the victims are for all intents and purposes brainwashed. After being subjected to an environment that is abusive emotionally the victim loses all self confidence, they do not trust their own mind, perceptions or judgments. A person who is abusive emotionally will do so constantly expressing belittling or berating remarks which can even be under the guise of good advice. Eventually the person who is being subjected to this state where it is abusive emotionally will lose all sense of self and any personal value they have. Being abusive emotionally creates scars and wounds in the victims mind that are far more damaging and more long lasting than any physical scars. When someone is being abusive emotionally their accusations, insults, critiques, insinuations and other verbal battering , slowly eat away at the victim till there is nothing left except an inability to judge a situations in life realistically. Such a victim will blame themselves for what the individual that is being abusive emotionally towards them is doing. They will cling to the abuser and not let go because their self esteem has reached the lowest of lows. Victims of people who are being abusive emotionally will become so convinced that they are worthless, they will begin to think that no one else in the world would want them. They believe that being with the person being abusive emotionally is the only option for them. Their greatest fear will be being left alone in the world.

There are several types of emotional abuse. When someone is being abusive emotionally one way they do it is to have abusive expectations. They can put highly unreasonable demands on the victims and insist that they put everything else aside to do their work. It could be as simple as a need to spend all their time with the victim to fulfill emotional needs, but since the need is never fulfilled the victim is constantly battered for it even though it’s not their fault. This is also a way to be abusive emotionally. More aggressive forms of being abusive emotionally are naming calling, accusing, even threatening. As mentioned earlier this type can also be disguised as advice or constructive criticism but in reality they are just being abusive emotionally.