Emotional Abuse: Signs and Symptoms

Emotional abuse can be defined as any behavior that affects the psychology of an individual by overpowering him/her. It involves verbal, as well as non-verbal abuse that eventually undermine the self-respect of the sufferer. Though emotional abuse can occur to anybody, it is more common among those with least power in the society, for example, children and women. An individual under prolonged emotional abuse loses his/her self confidence, self-concept, self-motivation and self-worth.

Emotional abuse is most commonly associated with abusive relationship and child abuse. It always precedes or accompanies a physical abuse in domestic violence. It is often observed that a person who is abused in a relationship can be an abuser to another person. This way, the person blames his feelings and/or problems on others. Emotional abuse or maltreatment in children can affect their development in terms of cognitive, social and psychological behavior. The effects of child abuse are detrimental and long-lasting.

Emotional Abuse: Signs and Symptoms

Some common types of emotional abuse are neglecting/rejecting, isolating, abusive expectations (demands, criticism), ignoring, denying (refuse to listen or understand the feelings), constant chaos, exploiting, aggression (blaming, commanding, threatening), emotional blackmail (threatening), dominating, verbal assaults (sarcasm, berating), invalidation and unpredictable behaviors (mood changes, emotional outbursts).

It is common that the abuser displays his/her abusive characters in order to humiliate the sufferer, when they are in the company of others. It is very difficult to identify and assess the sufferers of emotional abuse; hence, many a times, it goes unreported or unrecognized. Following are the signs and symptoms of emotional abuse:

• Feeling of depression
• Withdrawal from social interaction
• Isolation from friends and family
• Low self-esteem
• Fearfulness
• Increased anxiety
• Guilty feeling
• Feeling of shame
• Mood changes
• Nervous feeling
• Not trusting others
• Frequent blaming on others
• Self-blaming
• Pessimistic behavior
• Substance or drug abuse
• Extreme dependence on others
• Avoiding eye-contact
• Telling lies
• Aggressive behavior
• Emotional instability
• Suicidal attempts

The effects of emotional abuse has been recognized recently. The ultimate outcome of emotional abuse is that the sufferer gets scared to be left alone. In majority of the cases, the recipients of emotional abuse believe that no one else like/want to be with them, except the abuser. Hence, they continue to stay in the abusive situations. The sufferer feels ashamed and keeps secret about the emotional abuse. In this way, the emotional abuse continues.

If the emotional abuse remains unchecked, it can worsen the symptoms and may lead to serious emotional and psychological disorders. In case, you are abused or if you notice that somebody is being abused, then you can consult and seek help from the support services like social service agency, police, legal adviser and health professional. The best way to prevent emotional abuse is personal awareness and understanding the rights and duties.

Though, some forms of emotional abuse like ignoring, insulting and isolating cannot be prosecuted, you can always consider reporting to your near-and-dear ones. As a service provider, one can contribute to prevent emotional abuse, by making the public aware about the available support services. Various laws have been enacted to punish emotional abusers. In some jurisdictions, failure to report child abuse cases are punished either by imprisonment or in the form of fine.