What are 5 emotional abuse examples?
- Jealousy. They accuse you of flirting or cheating, or say you'd spend all your time with them if you truly loved them.
- Using guilt. ...
- Unrealistic expectations. ...
- Goading and blaming. ...
- Denying the abuse. ...
- Trivializing. ...
- Blaming you for their problems. ...
- Destroying and denying.
Examples include intimidation, coercion, ridiculing, harassment, treating an adult like a child, isolating an adult from family, friends, or regular activity, use of silence to control behavior, and yelling or swearing which results in mental distress. Signs of emotional abuse.
Verbal abuse is the most common form of emotional abuse, but it's often unrecognized, because it may be subtle and insidious. It may be said in a loving, quiet voice, or be indirect—or even concealed as a joke.
Emotional abuse includes non-physical behaviors that are meant to control, isolate, or frighten you. This may present in romantic relationships as threats, insults, constant monitoring, excessive jealousy, manipulation, humiliation, intimidation, dismissiveness, among others.
Staying in an emotionally or verbally abusive relationship can have long-lasting effects on your physical and mental health, including leading to chronic pain, depression, or anxiety. Read more about the effects on your health. You may also: Question your memory of events: “Did that really happen?” (See Gaslighting.)
- Extreme jealousy.
- Possessiveness.
- Unpredictability.
- A bad temper.
- Cruelty to animals.
- Verbal abuse.
- Extremely controlling behavior.
- Antiquated beliefs about roles of women and men in relationships.
- Signs of narcissistic abuse include:
- Love-bombing. It's not unusual for people with NPD to shower you with compliments and affection. ...
- Gaslighting. ...
- Ignoring boundaries. ...
- Projecting. ...
- Nitpicking. ...
- Some common examples of narcissistic abuse include: ...
- Anxiety and depression.
Emotional abuse involves nonphysical behavior that belittles another person and can include insults, put down, verbal threats or other tactics that make the victim feel threatened, inferior, ashamed or degraded.
Narcissistic abuse is a type of emotional abuse where the abuser only cares about themselves and may use words and actions to manipulate their partner's behavior and emotional state. Effects of narcissistic abuse can vary depending on how long one can endure these types of relationships.
Emotional abuse can be a form of psychological trauma that can have a similar impact on the nervous system as physical trauma.
Is there a difference between mental and emotional abuse?
Emotional abuse targets a person's feelings, it uses emotions to manipulate, punish, and achieve control. Rather than personal sentiments, mental abuse focuses on questioning and influencing a person's way of thinking and views on reality. Psychological abuse can cause a person to question their environment.
Oftentimes, people in emotionally abusive relationships don't understand that they are being abused because there's no violence involved. Many will dismiss or downplay emotional abuse because they don't think it's as bad as physical abuse, but this is a mistake.

- Anxiety disorders.
- Depression.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Misusing alcohol or drugs.
- Borderline personality disorder.
Emotional abuse is linked to thinning of certain areas of the brain that help you manage emotions and be self-aware — especially the prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe. Epigenetic changes and depression. Research from 2018 has connected childhood abuse to epigenetic brain changes that may cause depression.
The feeling of being powerful and in control gives some abusers immense pleasure. Abusers may also derive pleasure from seeing you suffer. Narcissists, psychopaths, and sadists may be drawn to emotional abuse because of the pleasure they take in having power over others or seeing them suffer (Brogaard, 2020).
The cycle of abuse is made up of four stages. These stages include the building of tension, the abuse incident, the reconciliation, and a period of calm.
A toxic relationship is one that makes you feel unsupported, misunderstood, demeaned, or attacked. A relationship is toxic when your well-being is threatened in some way—emotionally, psychologically, and even physically.
In public, abusers often appear charismatic, friendly, kind and even compassionate, while behind closed doors they are terrifying, unpredictable and calculating—think Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde. Most abusers work very hard to keep up a positive image outside of their home.
The cycle of abuse often goes through four main stages: tension, incident, reconciliation, and calm. Abusive behaviors may escalate from cycle to cycle, although this isn't always the case.
In this case, you might expect examples of narcissist text messages such as “I'm in the hospital, but I'm ok now,” “I can't feel my arm, but I don't think I should worry, should I?”, “I've had some bad news, but there's nothing you can do about it.”
What does narcissistic rage look like?
Examples of narcissistic rage range from intense outbursts and sudden fits of anger, to passive-aggressive acts such as simmering resentment, icy silence, deliberate neglect, or cutting sarcasm.
Self-importance
Engaging in a whirlwind romance. Lacking compassion or a severe lack of empathy for others. Love bombing. An inability to maintain connections, such as with friends, colleagues and family members.
A narcissistic parent will often abuse the normal parental role of guiding their children and being the primary decision maker in the child's life, becoming overly possessive and controlling. This possessiveness and excessive control disempowers the child; the parent sees the child simply as an extension of themselves.
Narcissists also gaslight or practice master manipulation, weakening and destabilizing their victims; finally, they utilize positive and negative emotions or moments to trick others. When a narcissist can't control you, they'll likely feel threatened, react with anger, and they might even start threatening you.
Basically, the silent treatment is a passive-aggressive behavior by which an abuser communicates some sort of negative message to the intended victim that only the perpetrator and the victim recognize through nonverbal communication.
- Being nervous.
- Developing an eating disorder (ED)
- Impulsive behavior.
- Reliving past traumas.
- Having nightmares or flashbacks.
- Feeling negative.
- Emotional issues.
- Having insomnia.
Does emotional abuse lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)? Emotional abuse doesn't always lead to PTSD, but it can. PTSD can develop after a frightening or shocking event. Your doctor may make a PTSD diagnosis if you experience high levels of stress or fear over a long period of time.
Intrusive symptoms
flashbacks, or feeling as if you're experiencing the abuse in the present moment. nightmares. intrusive thoughts or rumination. fear and other emotional distress when remembering the abuse.
Healing after emotional abuse can take time, but it is possible to recover from the emotional wounds that abuse has caused, along with the help of an online therapist. Keep reading to learn how to heal from emotional abuse.
- Physical abuse.
- Domestic violence or abuse.
- Sexual abuse.
- Psychological or emotional abuse.
- Financial or material abuse.
- Modern slavery.
- Discriminatory abuse.
- Organisational or institutional abuse.
What are the 4 main abuse?
There are four main categories of child abuse: physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. Find out more about each below, as well as the warning signs that a child may be being abused.
Mental abuse can be described as acts that can cause someone to feel insulted or demeaned or wear down someone's self-esteem. Examples include making unreasonable demands, being overly critical, wanting a partner to sacrifice needs for others, and causing them to doubt their perception (gaslighting).
- Bullying and cyberbullying. Find out more.
- Child sexual exploitation. Find out more.
- Child trafficking. Find out more.
- Criminal exploitation and gangs. Find out more.
- Domestic abuse. Find out more.
- Emotional abuse. Find out more.
- Female genital mutilation. Find out more.
- Grooming. Find out more.
Domestic violence
It encompasses all physical, sexual, emotional, economic and psychological actions or threats of actions that influence another person. This is one of the most common forms of violence experienced by women globally.
And that frequent misuse has not escaped linguists; according to the editors at Dictionary.com, “We submit that ironic might be the most abused word in the English language.” That's a tough claim to prove, but it's clear that confusion over the definition of irony is persistent, and decades old.
- unexplained changes in behaviour or personality.
- becoming withdrawn.
- seeming anxious.
- becoming uncharacteristically aggressive.
- lacks social skills and has few friends, if any.
- poor bond or relationship with a parent.
- knowledge of adult issues inappropriate for their age.
- running away or going missing.
- bruises, black eyes, welts, lacerations, and rope marks.
- bone fractures, broken bones, and skull fractures.
- open wounds, cuts, punctures, untreated injuries in various stages of healing.
- sprains, dislocations, and internal injuries/bleeding.
Some of the most common forms of abuse in adults include:
Emotional Abuse and Psychological Abuse. Neglect. Self-neglect. Financial or Material Abuse.
Emotional abuse is linked to thinning of certain areas of the brain that help you manage emotions and be self-aware — especially the prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe. Epigenetic changes and depression. Research from 2018 has connected childhood abuse to epigenetic brain changes that may cause depression.
Many tactics of psychological abuse are also classified as emotional abuse, and vice versa. However, the distinguishing factor between the two is psychological abuse's stronger effects on a victim's mental capacity. While emotional abuse affects what people feel, psychological abuse affects what people think.
What emotional abuse sounds like?
Emotional abuse involves nonphysical behavior that belittles another person and can include insults, put down, verbal threats or other tactics that make the victim feel threatened, inferior, ashamed or degraded.
Emotional abuse often coexists with other forms of abuse, and it is the most difficult to identify. Many of its potential consequences, such as learning and speech problems and delays in physical development, can also occur in children who are not being emotionally abused.
Verbal Abuse
It is one of the most difficult forms of abuse to prove because it does not leave physical scars or other evidence, but it is nonetheless hurtful. Verbal abuse may occur in schools or workplaces as well as in families.
The feeling of being powerful and in control gives some abusers immense pleasure. Abusers may also derive pleasure from seeing you suffer. Narcissists, psychopaths, and sadists may be drawn to emotional abuse because of the pleasure they take in having power over others or seeing them suffer (Brogaard, 2020).