Child mental abuse can cause signs of emotional harm, such as overly compliant or aggressive behavior, self-harm, and suicide attempts. Children may also exhibit excessive need for affection or whiny behavior, and physical signs such as rocking or self-inflicted injuries.
A victim of child mental abuse can show many signs that they are experiencing mental and emotional harm. Among the most common signs is overly compliant behavior or excessive need for affection. Overly aggressive behavior can also indicate possible mental abuse in children and can include both mental and verbal assaults. In addition, a mentally abused child may try to harm himself, develop habits to self-soothe, or wet or soil his clothes or bedding. Suicide attempts are also often a sign of child mental abuse.
One of the most common signs of child mental abuse is excessive whiny behavior. For example, a child may seem desperate to please others and gain approval, especially that of adults. In some cases, a child may not be able to say what he wants or likes because he considers his abuser’s wants and needs to be more important than his own. He may seem afraid of being disliked by others or by his abuser, appear shy about expressing his opinion of him, or have difficulty refusing to do things he doesn’t want to do.
Another possible sign of emotional abuse is an excessive need for affection. If a mentally abusive parent is away and withholds affection from the child, they may seem starved for attention. For example, the child may try to get affection from other adults or even attach himself to other older children for this purpose.
Sometimes signs of mental abuse in children include aggressive behavior. A child who is mentally abused can sometimes deal with the stress of the abuse by hitting, otherwise harming, or verbally abusing others. A mentally abused child may become angry quickly and have difficulty managing anger without an emotional outburst. Additionally, a mentally abused child may experience anger that seems dramatically out of proportion to the situation that angered him.
Signs of child mental abuse can also be physical in nature. For example, a mentally abused child may often rock back and forth or show signs of trying to make peace. Sometimes a victim may bang their head against a wall or other hard surface; others may self-inflict injuries. In addition, some mentally abused children have frequent episodes of wetting or soiling their beds or clothes. Unfortunately, some may even attempt suicide.
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