Victims of emotional abuse could be of any age or sex. Although, both men and women are subjected to emotional abuse, women are being victimised most of the times. Did you know that at least 2 women die in a week as a result of domestic abuse in the
According to police reports only 8% are male victims whereas 81% of victims are women tortured by male perpetrators. British Crime Survey 2000 claims that 23% of the recorded assaults turned out to be domestic abuse. Many studies assert that 1 out of 4 women are subjected to domestic abuse at some point in their life.
Examples of Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse does not involve paralysing a person emotionally alone. If a person is abused physically, it can have indirect effect on his emotions. Let us have a look at some of the common types of emotional abuse that a person is usually subjected to:
- Using profanities to address a person
- Preventing one’s partner from being in touch with family members, friends or relatives
- Telling the spouse that they are useless without them
- Making a call to a work place or a friend to confirm the spouse’s presence
- Substance Abuse
- Irrational behaviour
- Blaming the victim for their act
- Giving the victim a strong feeling that there isn’t any way out of the relationship
- Discouraging the victim and preventing their achievements
- Stopping the spouse from finding or keeping a job
- Sexual harassment
- Actual or threatened physical injury
- Stalking
- Intimidation
Though emotional abuses are not considered as criminal acts, they form the basis for criminal violence.
Consequences of Emotional Abuse
Emotional abuse has a tendency to keep you tied to your past instead of allowing your to progress into the future. It could also make you look at the future with a negative perspective.
When you repeatedly hear negative things about yourself, subsequently, you might start believing them and your actions might change accordingly. You need to realize that by getting destabilised and confused, you are becoming vulnerable. This can make it easy for the abusing partner to exercise greater their power on your thoughts and actions.
If you have children, the consequences could be even worse. Though they might not be able to understand what is going around them, it could affect their upbringing and have long term effects on their character.
Dealing with Emotional Abuse
Your partner might have witnessed such emotional abuse in their childhood or there could be other psychological problems behind them turning into an abuser. While you should not be bearing with the abuse in silence, breaking the relationship is not the only solution. It is always better to take the professional help of a psychiatrist or a marriage counselor to help him get over his problem. Professional help has assisted a lot of people to get over problems and lead a happy marital life. Hence, it is worth giving a try before resorting to a divorce that could wreck both your lives and affect your children as well.
However, if the person is unwilling to take any help or mend his ways, then divorce might be the only solution. Also, getting a divorce alone cannot solve all the problems. Even after a separation there are chances that you might still suffer from the effect of abuse. It is important to get over the pain completely to lead a happy life. You might seek professional help to get over the negative feeling caused due to abuse.
Also, remember that whenever your partner tries to point out your mistake, it cannot be always be with the intention to abuse you emotionally. He could also be attempting to help you out of a possible mistake. In these instances let your spouse’s positive feedback help you move in the right direction.
Your Right to Happiness
Just because your partner does not harm you physically, it does not mean that you are not being abused. If he is causing emotional pain from his actions, it is a more severe form of abuse. Do not let yourself become a victim of abuse! You have a right to lead your life happily. So, be happy and never let anyone undermine your human worth.
