Signs and symptoms of emotional abuse

Emotional Abuse Characteristics

Being emotionally abused is not a state of affairs to desire. Rather, emotionally abused people have often gone through very hard periods of life, where they have experienced other people's words and actions causing a decrease in their self-esteem and self-respect. This reflects on these people later in life since they cannot live without these, imposed aspects of their personality. They are prone to bursting into tears or being unable to control their emotions. Even though all members of human society may experience this form of abuse and its effects, women and children, being the weakest, are the most susceptible. Most often emotional abuse is combined with physical abuse. Thus, people who are victims of emotional abuse have survived traumas due to terrible things that happened to them. This influences their perception of the world as well as their lives significantly.

Manifestations of Emotional Abuse

First of all, some of the negative things emotionally abused people experienced are neglecting, ignoring, verbal insulting and aggressive behavior through both physical and verbal violence and many others. Since these are all traumatic experiences, they leave deep scars into the lives and characteristics of the emotionally abused.

People in this state of mind feel depressed and incapable of fitting into the world. They often detach from their family and friends. Additionally, they are bothered by guilt, shame and are fearful. Nervousness and anxiousness, as well as mood swings, all are common traits of emotionally abused people as well. Being pessimists, they do not trust others and blame them for many negative things in their lives. On the other hand, they are also prone to blaming themselves. They may be prone to lying, drug abuseand aggressive behavior or may have suicidal tendencies. Finally, as mentioned above, they have low self-esteem and tend to be emotionallyunstable.

People often stay in the circles of their emotional abuse. They do this due to their fear of being abandoned. They often think that no one else will want them by their side but the abuser him/herself. Thus, they cling onto this person and suffer more.

Any prolongation of emotional abuse can have catastrophic consequences on the psyche of the victim. Therefore, it is important to act timely and seek help, reporting your abuse to some public organizations. Also, you might seek help from other family members. It is important to express yourself and expose the abuser to other people. This will make you safer since others will help you, and will also make an important step to your recovery.