Psychological and/or emotional abuse
This is repetitive attitudes and behaviours from the abuser that destroys a person’s self-worth and strips away their true identity.
Examples:
- constant judging and criticising/undermining
- name calling/insulting
- humiliating/embarrassing
- minimising/trivialising
- neglect/abandonment
- belittling/put downs
- making threats
- yelling and angry outbursts
- blaming
- isolation/withholding affection
Emotional abuse affects self-esteem, value and confidence. Being made to feel small and of no use, unimportant and unloved significantly impacts mental health. Someone experiencing this type of abuse will come to believe and accept things about themselves that aren’t true, their perception and understanding of reality and their feelings will have been skewed by the constant attitude of their abuser. Sadly, it is all too common for a person to not realise they’re actually being abused. They think the way they’re being treated is ‘normal’ and worse, that they actually deserve it. Emotional abuse is so damaging, hurtful and deeply wounding. It causes the most scars.
Anyone suffering any type of domestic abuse, and anyone witnessing it – which includes children – whether they see it or hear it, will have been emotionally abused. Exposure to domestic abuse is ALWAYS abusive to children.
Resource: this is happening to me