EMOTIONAL ABUSE: what is it, types, consequences and signs

Emotional abuse includes attitudes such as humiliation, insults, gestures of disapproval, isolation and many others that affect the person who suffers them psychologically. It is a form of violence and aggression that can become quite serious if it is lived in a repeated over time, wreaking havoc on both the victim's self-esteem and identity this. In this Psychology-Online article we will see more exactly what is it, what are the types, consequences and signs of emotional abuse.

Index

1. What is emotional abuse
2. Types of emotional abuse and examples
3. Signs and symptoms to detect emotional abuse
4. Consequences of emotional abuse
5. How to deal with emotional abuse

First, we will look at the definition of emotional abuse. The emotional or psychological abuse It is a type of violence often described as invisible, since there are no physical consequences at first sight that could detected, but the main source of suffering of the victim who suffers it is his emotional stability, his self-esteem and his selfconcept. It is defined as any

It is a type of abuse that is more difficult to detect and evaluate. Many times it is only associated with the couple, however, emotional abuse can appear in many other areas: family, work, school and, of course, relationships.

Emotional abuse can be suffered in various areas, leading to the following qualification:

• Economic or financial abuse: refers to when the abuser wants to fully control the economic resources of the victim. He asks you to justify your expenses, does not allow you to work, watches your bank transactions, cuts off your phone, threatens you with money, etc ...
• Structural abuse: the abuser uses structural inequality that, according to him, makes him superior. Use phrases like: "This is so because I said so, period", "Here I command"... He does things without consulting you, uses imperatives, forces you to have sex, forces you to go places, and punishes you with anger or indifference when the victim ignores you.
• Spiritual abuse: refers to the ridicule of ideas or beliefs of the other forcing him to accept his own. He does not let him go to acts related to her ideals or simply talk about them and constantly humiliates him for this fact.
• Social abuse: the victim is isolated and their social contacts are reduced, becoming practically nil. Listening to conversations, reading their email or mobile messages are some of the examples. It is a type of abuse that seeks to make the victim stay alone, not have the support of her friends and family, and not meet new people.

In this article you can see information about the types of psychological abusers and about the abuser psychology.

Emotional abuse in the partner or family is difficult to detect, since we can often confuse the usual internal dialogues and the most common doubts in the relational field with really serious situations that begin to show ravages of this type of suffering. The thoughts of the style: "Am I the one who takes it very seriously? "" Maybe if I had answered differently... "" Have I caused it? " can be a key indicator when they are repeated and cause some emotional exhaustion and especially when these thoughts they can make the same victim justify a physical aggression suffered or certain insults, humiliations and intimidation.

In general, we can summarize a series of behavioral indicators on the part of the abuser and symptoms on the part of the victim that serve to detect emotional abuse:

• Emotional blackmail: psychological manipulation widely used by the abuser in these cases. In this article we explain how to deal with emotional blackmail.
• Minimization: do not recognize victim achievements, do not praise her qualities and also do it in a subtle way.
• Control: one of the most detectable alarms in this type of abuse.
• Invisibility / Submission: the victim's opinions will gradually fade into the background.
• Isolation: increasingly frequent departure restrictions.
• Denial of reality / distortion: the abuser will be in charge of making the victim believe that nothing she thinks she sees or makes her feel bad is actually like that.
• Blame: before any setback, the abuser will blame the victim.
• Loss of identity: more and more the victim will tend to adapt to the other so as not to anger him and will end up losing part of his personal identity.
• Abuse: One of the most obvious disrespects in abuse.
• Threats: ae abandonment, of hurting oneself and of various other kinds.
• Restrictions: control and restriction of financial expenses if there are common accounts.
• Unwanted sexual intercourse Really.
• Punishment: used by the abuser to promote co-dependency.
• Dependence: there is usually a very harmful co-dependency relationship.
• Doubts / Insecurity: everything will become unstable for the victim and her self-esteem will be diminished.

In this article you will find more information about how to detect emotional abuse in your partner.

Among the harmful effects of emotional abuse we find:

• Physical consequences: disorders associated with chronic stress such as sleep disturbances, hypertension, headache, digestive disturbance, muscle pain... Also nervous disorders such as generalized anxiety.
• Psychological consequences- One of the most common consequences is low self-esteem and feelings of guilt that can lead to increased stress and anxiety. Substance use can also occur as an attempt to escape from the reality that makes you suffer.
• Social consequences: the main impact of abuse is isolation. The victim ends up being practically alone, she blames herself and believes that her closest circle would be unable to understand her. Your work and academic performance can also be impaired.

Here you can read more about consequences of psychological abuse in the partner.

How to avoid emotional abuse? The most important action in all cases of violence is the prevention. Through information and education in respect, diversity and equality. In addition to teaching tools for emotional management and assertive communication. In this article we explain how to prevent gender violence.

Faced with abuse, you should go to assistance services specialized. For example, call 016, the free phone that women victims of gender violence and all citizens can access to find out how to help. You can also talk to your loved ones and stay close to them, get away from the abuser or abuser and request psychological help.

This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.

If you want to read more articles similar to Emotional abuse: what it is, types, consequences and signs, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.

• Anonymous. Emotional abuse. The almanac. Recovered from: http://www.elalmanaque.com/relaciones/14.htm
• Martin, O. Detect psychological abuse. Cepsim Madrid. Recovered from: https://www.psicologiamadrid.es/blog/articulos/psicologia-y-violencia/detectar-los-malos-tratos-psicologicos