Emotional Abuse:
Emotional abuse is a type of domestic or social violence that is displayed by people with presumptuous behavior. It is a feeling of being ignored, contradicted, or negated in a manner where you suffer from confusion about your personality, and your self-esteem is hurt badly. When you are afraid to showcase your true self in front of people you know or feel scared around them, you are being emotionally abused.
You have the right to feel emotionally independent, supported, and respected. Though it is invisible to the eye, emotional abuse has lingering effects on mental health than physical abuse.
What are the ways for suffering from emotional abuse?
Emotional abuse happens when:
- Your friends/family/spouse/colleague makes you feel that you are not good enough for them.
- Your friends/family/spouse/colleague constantly patronize you and your talent.
- Your partner/spouse threatens to leave you unless you do not do what they desire.
- Your partner/spouse threatens to hurt you if you try to leave them for their behavior.
- You try to keep your thoughts to yourself in a gathering just because you think you will be ridiculed or mocked by the people.
Emotional abuse may be accompanied by several other types of abuse such as physical, sexual, or verbal abuse.
Impacts of Emotional Abuse:
Emotional abuse has long-lasting negative effects on victims’ personalities, self-esteem, and confidence, leaving them depressed and often suicidal. People who suffer from emotional abuse develop a sense of self-loathing and consider themselves unworthy of any appreciation. This self-deprecating ability is toxic, and the victim loses his entire sense of self. Most victims often become imprisoned of an abusive relationship and think that they can never be good enough for their partner.
Long-term effects of emotional and verbal abuse:
Emotional abuse has a long-lasting effect on the body and brain of the victim. According to recent studies, emotional abuse can be as detrimental as physical abuse and contribute to depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and some chronic conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome. Emotionally abused people suffer from:
- Insomnia
- Anxiety
- Guilt
- Social isolation or social awkwardness
- Feelings that their partners are always right and they are not good enough and ugly etc.
Children often suffer from emotional abuse by parents, teachers, or classmates and experience:
- Feeling of worthlessness.
- Trouble in trusting people
- Headaches
- Sleep disorders
- Anxiety disorders
- Eating Disorders
Children who experience emotional or verbal abuse at their earlier stage of life often establish trust issues and experience trouble getting close to other people.
Short-term effect of emotional and verbal abuse:
The emotional toll contributes to various behavioral problems:
- Attention Deficit disorder
- Moodiness or mood swings
- Muscle tension
- Racing heartbeats
- Nightmares
Victims of emotional abuse lose their sense of fraternizing and experience feelings of:
- Shame
- Awkwardness
- Confusion
- Self-blaming
Tips for Healing from Emotional Abuse:
Being able to realize that you are worthy of appreciation, love, care, and respect; victims of emotional, verbal, or physical abuse can get the reigns of their life back in their hands. Here are the following steps that help in healing from emotional abuse:
Prioritize Yourself:
You matter! Stop belittling yourself and give a shut-up call to those who humiliate you. Instead of ignoring yourself and your needs, start caring for yourself. Introduce various self-care routines to induce positivity in life.
Stop Self-blaming:
Instead of blaming yourself for everything happening in other people’s lives, try to focus on what went wrong. Do not blame yourself for everything wrong and don’t let others do so! How people treat you is a direct reflection of how you treat yourself!
Ignore Abusive Behavior:
If a person is abusive to you and doesn’t find a supportive answer to defend yourself then stop arguing or engaging with them. Don’t stand there to take the blame for things you don’t have control of; simply walk away from abusive or harsh behaviors.
Graceful Exit:
Being forced to live in an abusive relationship because there is no one to support you, then instead of being intimidated by them, leave for your well-being because eventually, abusive relationships will drain your mental and physical health. Discuss the matters with someone you trust or a counselor and take steps to end the abusive relationship as soon as possible.
Ask for Help:
If you’re trying to move away from an abusive relationship then asking for help from someone is a good step towards self-healing and practicing self-compassion.
