Understanding Emotional Abuse

    The first step to getting help for emotional abuse can be the hardest. This step requires us to recognize the problem. Quite often, people don’t realize they’re experiencing emotional abuse.

 “People often say ‘That’s just the way my partner or parent has always been,”. It’s not until they start to peel back the behavior that they realize it’s unhealthy.

     Perpetrators of emotional abuse will often do the following:

•      Attempt to control you.
•      Dismiss your feelings or claim you’re too sensitive.
•      Isolate you from family and friends.
•      Make you doubt yourself or feel ashamed.
•      Call you names.
•      Withhold affection.
•      Yell, intimidate or make threats.

Gaslighting

“Gaslighting” is a particularly sinister type of emotional abuse. The abuser might try to make you feel like you’re losing your mind. They might claim, “I never said that” or “I never did that.” They might even hide objects, so their victims feel out of control.

The goal is to make you feel responsible for what’s happening. You begin to question your reality, who you are as a person and what you know to be true.

YOU ARE NOT ALONE