Examples of emotional abuse in family life include:

  • Humiliation and Insults: The victim is constantly humiliated, offend, offend her personality, intellect, appearance or abilities. This can be done publicly or privately.
  • Isolation: The abuser maintains control by restricting access sacrifices to the outside world. This may include prohibiting contact with friends, relatives, or restricting freedom of movement.
  • Threats and blackmail: The perpetrator threatens the victim with violence , physical pain, destruction of property, or the threat of disclosure of personal information. Blackmail can be used to control and manipulate the victim.
  • Intimate partner violence: Includes control over sexual life of the victim, forced sexual acts without consent, humiliation or insult in a sexual context.
  • Ignore and Reject: The perpetrator ignores or rejects feelings, needs and requests of the victim, making her feel invisible or unworthy of love and attention.
  • Economic Control: The abuser controls the victim's finances, deprives her of financial independence, requires accountability for every penny spent, or deprives her of access to livelihoods.
  • Manipulation and Control: The perpetrator manipulates and controls feelings, thoughts and actions of the victim. This can be achieved by misinformation, inverting the facts, confusing or creating a dependency on the perpetrator.

Emotional abuse can have serious consequences for the victim, such as low self-esteem, anxiety, depression, constant stress, and traumatic stress syndrome. It is important to seek help and support in the event of emotional abuse in order to protect your safety and well-being.

What is the difference between emotional abuse and psychological abuse

Emotional abuse and psychological abuse are closely related and may overlap, but they have some differences in their aspects and approaches. Here are some main differences between emotional abuse and psychological abuse:

  • Emotion Focus: Emotional abuse focuses on manipulation and control of the emotional state of the victim. The perpetrator uses humiliation, insults, threats, and other tactics to induce fear, low self-esteem, anxiety, or other negative emotions in the victim. Psychological abuse, on the other hand, includes a wider range of manipulations such as gaslighting, isolation, command, control, and manipulation of the victim's thoughts, behavior, and perceptions.
  • Visibility of Behavior: Emotional abuse is often overt and obvious, including insults, threats, and outright humiliation. This behavior can be noticeable both to the victim himself and to those around him. Psychological abuse, on the other hand, may be less visible, as it often involves psychological manipulation, psychological games, information manipulation, and creating situations that cause the victim to doubt themselves and reality.
  • Primary Target: Emotional abuse aimed at evocation emotional pain and control over the emotional state of the victim. It may be aimed at undermining the victim's self-esteem and confidence in order to make them more vulnerable and submissive. Psychological abuse, on the other hand, is aimed at establishing and maintaining control over the victim through the manipulation of their thoughts, perceptions and behavior.
  • Physical component: Emotional abuse may be without physical aggression and violence. It focuses on the use of words, emotions, and psychological tactics to humiliate and control. Psychological abuse can also be non-physical, but include manipulation, threats, blackmail, and other tactics that may lead to physical abuse or increased violence against the victim.

It is important to note that emotional abuse and psychological abuse often go together and can occur together. They both have serious consequences for the victim and require support and protection.

What can emotional abuse evolve into

Emotional abuse, if no action is taken, can evolve and progress into more serious forms of abuse. Here are some of the possible directions in which emotional abuse can develop:

  • Physical abuse: Emotional abuse can become physical violence, when the perpetrator begins to use physical force or violence against the victim. This may include beating, strangling, kicking, hitting, and other forms of physical aggression.
  • Sexual abuse: Emotional abuse in some cases can escalate into sexual violence. The perpetrator may use his power and control to force the victim into sexual acts without her consent, or use threats and blackmail to control her sex life.
  • Economic Violence: The abuser can use economic power and controls to restrict the financial independence and freedom of the victim. This may include controlling money, denying access to financial resources, being banned from work, or being financially dependent on the abuser.
  • Isolation and control: Emotional abuse can lead to increased isolation and control over the victim. The rapist may restrict her contact with the outside world, deny her friends and family, and manipulate her freedom of movement and social connections.
  • Psychological abuse: Emotional abuse can progress to more complex and sophisticated forms of psychological abuse such as gaslighting. The perpetrator can actively manipulate thoughts, twist facts, create doubt, and confuse the victim into questioning their memory, perception, and sanity.

It is important to understand that the evolution of emotional abuse can be individual to each case and depends on many factors, including the identity of the perpetrator, the context of the family relationship and the victim, and the availability of external support and assistance.

Ways to deal with emotional abuse in family life

Confronting emotional abuse in the context of family life can be a difficult but important step in protecting your well-being. Here are some ways to deal with emotional abuse:

  • Know and realize: Understanding what happens, and admitting that you are being emotionally abused is the first step. Education and awareness of the characteristics and signs of emotional abuse will help you better understand the situation and decide how to proceed.
  • Set boundaries: Set clear boundaries and limits about how you may be treated and behaved by your family members is an important step. Decide what is acceptable communication for you and what already violates your boundaries, and don't be afraid to defend them.
  • Stay connected with supportive people: Support with the side of friends, family, support groups or professionals can be valuable. Talking to trusted people who can offer support, advice, and understanding can help you stay mentally balanced.
  • Take care of your self-worth: Emotional abuse can strike at your self-esteem and self-respect. Value your accomplishments, recognize your strengths, and work to increase your self-esteem. Focus on your physical and emotional well-being.
  • Seek professional help: See a psychologist, a therapist or counselor who specializes in domestic violence. They can suggest specific strategies for dealing with emotional abuse, help you develop a safety plan, and provide the support and resources you need.
  • Create a security plan: If you are in situations where your safety is at risk, creating a security plan may be necessary. Include emergency contacts, the possibility of temporary shelter, and information on what steps to take if violence escalates.
  • Record what happens: Keeping records of emotional violence, including dates, times, descriptions of what happened and possible witnesses, may be helpful. These recordings can be useful evidence if you decide to go to law enforcement or go to court.

It is important to remember that every situation is unique and the decision to deal with emotional abuse should be based on your own risk assessment and available resources. If you are in immediate danger, contact law enforcement or emergency services.