What Is Verbal Abuse & How Does it Affect Others?
Verbal abuse is a form of emotional abuse. It is a widespread problem, and is widely unreported. Many people do not even know that verbal abuse is a form of abuse and may live in an abusive situation without realizing it. Verbal abuse takes many forms, and can create many long-term effects for the victim.
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Definition
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Emotional abuse is any behavior that is designed to control a person through fear, intimidation, humiliation, guilt or manipulation. Verbal abuse can take several forms, from yelling and name-calling, to more subtle put-downs that are an ongoing part of the relationship. Emotional abuse works as a form of brainwashing, convincing the victim over a period of time that the abuser's words are accurate and the victim lacks value.
Self-Esteem
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The most common and obvious effect of ongoing verbal abuse is a destruction of the victim's self-esteem. The abuser creates a situation where the victim comes to believe that the abuser's opinion is accurate, which makes all the terrible things the abuser says true, at least in the victim's mind. As a result, many victims of emotional abuse feel that they are worthless or not capable in some way.
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Depression and Anxiety
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A natural side effect of verbal abuse and a loss of self-esteem is depression and anxiety. Once a victim of abuse begins to feel that she lacks worth, depression is common. Anxiety in this situation would normally stem from the fear that the abuse will re-occur. Depression and anxiety can be treated through therapy and medication, but the solution is likely to be only partial as long as the victim remains in the abusive relationship.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
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Post-traumatic stress disorder is commonly associated with veterans of war or survivors of a one-time extreme trauma. However, there is acknowledgment that many people in an abusive relationship have a form of PTSD, sometimes referred to as complex PTSD. The symptoms of complex PTSD are similar to traditional PTSD, and include emotional dysregulation or unpredictable mood shifts, mild dissociation, such as feeling "in a dream" or "in a daze" in a prolonged way, and an unexplained breakdown in physical health from being "on high alert" for prolonged periods during an abusive relationship.
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