

{"id":16891,"date":"2017-08-28T10:23:18","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T10:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/?p=16891"},"modified":"2025-11-23T13:15:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T13:15:01","slug":"what-is-emotional-abuse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/domestic-violence-and-abuse\/what-is-emotional-abuse\/","title":{"rendered":"What is Emotional Abuse?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-18406 size-full\" title=\"What is Emotional Abuse\" src=\"https:\/\/image.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/What-is-Emotional-Abuse1.jpg\" alt=\"What is Emotional Abuse\" width=\"804\" height=\"350\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What is emotional abuse? Emotional abuse is a bit difficult to define as an absolute. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While it is generally considered prevalent and rather common, and people will have a good sense of what it is, the difficulty in putting a finger on exactly what it entails can be a challenge because it takes many forms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>What is emotional abuse in a relationship?<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a form of violence that can happen to anyone at any time in their lives and can have <strong>devastating consequences on relationships, families, and anyone who may be involved.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Emotional-abuse-definition\"><\/span>Emotional abuse definition<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To get a better understanding of what emotional abuse is, we have cited the definition as given in Wikipedia. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Psychological_abuse\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Wikipedia<\/a>, psychological or emotional abuse is the exposure of a person or persons to behaviors that <strong>may cause psychological trauma, including anxiety, <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2009\/HEALTH\/03\/11\/domestic.violence.personality\/\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">chronic depression<\/a>, or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/249715226_Post-Traumatic_Stress_Disorder_PTSD_in_Victims_of_Domestic_Violence_A_Review_of_the_Research\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">post-traumatic stress disorder<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Then again, going by&nbsp;the definition of emotional abuse, it is just <strong>an attack on someone&rsquo;s emotional well-being. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is not a single instance where someone lashes out at another. Signs of emotional abuse include&nbsp;<strong>a series of attacks and demoralizing emotional indignities<\/strong> that wear away at the victim over time. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It doesn&rsquo;t lead to physical markings such as visible bruises, but the hurt and damage it can do are very real. It may be a precursor to other forms of abuse. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The consequence is the diminished identity and dignity of the victim(s).<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is difficult to get an exact answer to what emotional abuse is. So, it is probably best to simply outline some of the forms it can take and take note of key emotional abuse signs.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An emotionally abusive relationship includes :<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/publication\/327944201_Gaslighting_and_the_knot_theory_of_mind\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Gaslighting<\/strong><\/a><\/li>\n<li><strong>Intimidation<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Humiliation<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Criticism<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Confinement<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Isolation<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/domestic-violence-and-abuse\/what-is-verbal-abuse\/\">Verbal abuse<\/a><\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Control<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Assigning guilt or blame<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The actions are chronic aggressions whose aim is to purposely belittle the victim. Many of the categorizations overlap or proceed in tandem. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few other symptoms of emotional abuse include&nbsp;<strong>patronizing, character assassination, looking down on your interests, taking control of your finances, stonewalling, and bullying.<\/strong><strong>&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Long-term-effects-of-emotional-abuse\"><\/span>Long-term effects of emotional abuse<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As a result of continued stress, the victim may react with various emotional responses such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li><strong>Depression<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Withdrawal<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Panic attacks<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Consideration of suicide<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The overriding sense that an emotionally abused person might feel is of helplessness and a loss of a normal sense of reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emotional abuse in a relationship is the playground of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/mental-health\/dating-a-narcissistic-sociopath\/\">narcissists and sociopaths<\/a> who lack the sort of empathy that would keep them from such tactics of manipulation.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An interesting twist to the assaults in emotionally abusive relationships is that they often simply turn on and off to further the confusion, lack of consistency, and raise fear.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1-Gaslighting\"><\/span><b>1. Gaslighting<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emotional abuse examples include gaslighting or pervasive master manipulation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gaslighting is when an abuser purposely sets out to make a victim confused about or doubt what they know as reality. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The perpetrator will act like known events never occurred and create situations that contradict beliefs. The overall goal is demoralization and making the victim doubt their sanity by providing what are essentially alternative facts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The smokescreen becomes a haze through which the victim is eternally entrenched and doubts themselves and their own sensibility.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2-Intimidation-verbal-abuse-or-bullying\"><\/span><b>2. Intimidation, verbal abuse, or bullying<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Intimidation may cover a range of behaviors from <strong>personal threats, verbal admonishment, and the use of vulgar language. <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Acts may include displays of rage meant to suggest physical violence. This intimidation and verbal abuse can likely overlap with humiliation and criticism.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>One of the&nbsp;types of emotional abuse is where abusers b<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">elittle, trivialize victims and their accomplishments and laugh at hopes and dreams.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3-Humiliation-or-harsh-criticism\"><\/span><b>3. Humiliation or harsh criticism<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An emotionally abusive person may resort to simple humiliations and criticism at every turn. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The victim will be pronounced to be ugly, stupid, incapable of performing well or doing absolutely anything credibly well. <\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The repetition is, again, systematically demoralizing, leaving the victim in a constant state of distress. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each new attempt to improve and show that the claims of incompetence are true is met with additional admonishment until the point where the victim assumes they are indeed incapable of doing anything correctly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The abuser will readily laugh at those around them, but cannot in any sense laugh at themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-16894 size-full\" title=\"Intimidation Verbal abuse Bullying\" src=\"https:\/\/image.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Intimidation-Verbal-abuse-Bullying.jpg\" alt=\"Intimidation Verbal abuse Bullying\" width=\"804\" height=\"350\"><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"4-Confinement-or-isolation\"><\/span><b>4. Confinement or isolation<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An emotional abuser may push to isolate you from everything and everyone you know to become your lone liaison to the world. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of the effects of emotional abuse is<strong> feeling isolated with walls closing in on you.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This may not include physical containment, such as being locked in a room or a basement, but the result might be functionally the same. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Friends will not be welcome to the house, and the abused will feel the need to request permission to perform even common behaviors or risk repercussions.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"5-Control\"><\/span><b>5. Control<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An abuser will use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/counseling\/is-he-really-controlling-heres-how-to-know\/\">many forms of controlling behaviors<\/a> to keep the abused under their thumb. They might shut down by not talking, withholding physical relations, withholding finances (or access to them), and shunning any attempts to connect. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In emotional abuse in marriage or a relationship, <strong>abusers use elements of intimidation, bullying, criticism, and isolation<\/strong> to reprimand the abused and align the abused to desired behaviors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Also watch:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-XNZuKkcDkM\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"6-Assigning-guilt-blame-or-resorting-to-shaming\"><\/span><b>6. Assigning guilt, blame, or resorting to shaming<\/b><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Abusers are quick to make excuses for their behavior and failures, usually by blaming someone or something else, and the target is most often abused. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Linking the abused can sometimes fall in the shadow of gaslighting, where reality becomes quite distorted in order to make blame stick. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a means of dismissing the fact that the abuser is imperfect, and it is the environment that is responsible for every failing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Emotional abusers become experts at removing passion, interest, and control from the lives of the abused to make them dependent, weak, and reliant. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The abuser swings in and out of moods and behavior, only to leave the abused more confused and never know what to expect. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is like poorly training a dog, and on the surface, the callousness and lack of empathy may seem like it is exactly that. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In reality, the abuser is a deeply flawed and wounded personality that has retreated so much from their own flaws that they are in denial and fear of admitting that they are the ones who are broken.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Finding an exact answer to what emotional abuse is is implausible.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How-to-deal-with-emotional-abuse\"><\/span>How to deal with emotional abuse?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Identifying and addressing any signs of abuse, irrespective of their nature and type, can save a person from being cruelly victimized.<\/p>\n<p>If your situation resonates with these emotional abuse symptoms, it is best to seek timely help from a credible expert.<\/p>\n<p>A professional is an equipped specialist who can help you identify covert signs of abuse, step out of the toxic shadow of your abusive partner,&nbsp;re-evaluate your relationships, and provide&nbsp;emotional help and counseling to reclaim your confidence and self-belief.<\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is emotional abuse? Emotional abuse is a bit difficult to define as an absolute. While it is generally considered prevalent and rather common, and people will have a good sense of what it is, the difficulty in putting a finger on exactly what it entails can be a challenge because it takes many forms. What is emotional abuse in a relationship? It is a form of violence that can happen to anyone at any time in their lives and can have devastating consequences on relationships, families, and anyone who may be involved. Emotional abuse definition To get a better <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":18406,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[85],"tags":[2709],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16891"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16891"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16891\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114033,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16891\/revisions\/114033"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18406"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}