Mental abuse includes behaviors that manipulate the victim’s perception of reality, control their behavior and emotions, and isolate them from family, friends, and finances. It can damage self-esteem and cause trauma without physical evidence. The abuser aims to alter and control the victim’s sense of self and reality, making them feel unworthy and powerless. Victims may not recognize the abuse and blame themselves, but breaking the cycle is crucial for recovery.
Mental abuse encompasses a wide range of behaviors that all affect the victim’s perception of reality. The abuser will often attempt to control the victim’s behavior and emotions by manipulating available information and denying them access to family, friends and finances. The victim may also be subjected to hurtful criticism, ridicule, and name-calling to diminish their self-esteem. Mental abuse can also occur if the victim is forced to witness another person’s abuse. Unlike physical abuse, mental abuse leaves no visible scars or wounds, but it can be just as traumatic to the victim, if not more so.
Altering and controlling the victim’s sense of self and reality are often among the goals of a mental abuser. Mental abuse, like physical abuse, is intended to force the victim to obey the abuser. Inflicting emotional trauma can be an effective method of intimidation and prevent victim resistance without causing physical evidence of abuse, which can attract the attention of others.
Insults, taunts, and name-calling can, over time, damage a person’s sense of self-worth by making them feel worthless or worthless. The victim may withdraw from friends and family and forgo educational and employment opportunities due to feeling unworthy. If the abuser is confronted with this behavior, he will often try to pass off the verbal abuse as jokes that the victim is at fault for not understanding.
The abuser may gradually restrict the victim’s access to family, friends, and the outside world at large. This isolation allows the abuser to take control of the victim’s sense of reality. The victim can also be deprived of access to their bank accounts, making them increasingly dependent on the attacker.
Extreme situations of mental abuse involve the victim being forced to watch as another person is somehow abused. This second victim may be physically, mentally or sexually abused. This situation can develop when an abused parent observes the abuser addressing her children while feeling powerless to intervene.
In many cases of mental abuse, the victim may come to believe that they deserve such treatment. This is often the result of the abuser’s control over the victim’s perception of reality. The abuser may blame the victim for her abusive behavior or convince the victim that the abuse is imagined.
It is possible that the victim does not immediately recognize that they are experiencing mental abuse. The abuser may apologize, promising never to repeat the behavior, and the victim may be afraid to ask for help or even blame herself for what is happening. Since mental abuse typically becomes more severe with time, breaking the cycle is a crucial step toward recovery.
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