Emotional Abuse or Psychological Abuse
Emotional or psychological abuse is the wilful infliction of mental suffering, by a person in a position or expectation of trust, to a vulnerable person.
Typical examples of emotional or psychological abuse
- Verbal assault, e.g. shouting, screaming
- Humiliation
- Threats
- Depriving a person of due respect
- Denial of dignity and affection
- Bullying
- Instilling fear
- Ridiculing
- Name calling
- Deprivation/loss of liberty
- Denial of access to close relatives, friends, others
- Blame
- Insults
- Deprivation of choice in decision making
- Conditional ‘love’
- Denial of access to cultural or religious observances.
Possible indicators of emotional or psychological abuse
This list is not exhaustive - practitioners you maybe be confronted by the unusual and something not encountered before:
- High levels of anxiety/stress especially in response to certain individuals or circumstances, e.g. self mutilation, head banging and hand biting
- Passivity
- Agitation
- Confusion
- Resignation
- Fear
- Signs of depression, such as suicidal ideation
- Sleep disturbances
- Changes in appetite
- Loss of interest in pursuing social contact
- An air of silence in the home when the alleged abuser is present
- Cowering
- Recoiling from the physical approach of carers
- Excessive and inappropriate craving for affection
- Helplessness
- Isolation in a room in a house
- Inappropriately or improperly dressed
- Overly anxious to please
- Denial
- Running away or not wanting to go home