Emotional Abuse is a form of abuse which encompasses psychological or mental mistreatment of one person at the hands of another. Despite its serious and harmful nature, it is often under-reported and downplayed due to its subtle nature, and can include any sort of chronic behavior that causes mental distress or emotional trauma that jeopardizes the psychological well-being of another person.

Psychological abuse is prevalent in many aspects of society and can be observed in both intimate and impersonal relationships. Incidents of emotional maltreatment in such relationships often go unnoticed, especially in personal interactions such as those between family members or romantic partners. In relationships of a more impersonal nature such as those between co-workers in the workplace or between peers in schools or other institution, Emotional Abuse can be categorized as a form of bullying. For all cases, emotional violence and its consequences are severe both for the perpetrator and the victim.

Psychological abuse, though difficult to detect, can be discerned by certain characteristics such as manipulation, humiliation, degradation, criticism, isolation and any other such action that is chronic in nature and which causes emotion distress. The counseling center of University of Illinois explains the phenomenon of emotional mistreatment as “any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical in nature. It can include anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics, such as intimidation, manipulation, and refusal to ever be pleased. Emotional abuse can take many forms. Three general patterns of abusive behavior include aggression, denying, and minimizing’.″

Emotionally abusive relationships can have a huge mental toll on the victim, leading to trauma such as chronic depression, anxiety and even suicide. In marital relationships, victims are reported to be more likely to be women than men. Also, men have been found to display more aggressive tendencies.

Victims often have feelings of low self-worth, pain, fear, helplessness and frustration. In many cases, the victim may not recognize or acknowledge the mistreatment as abuse in an attempt to cope with the stress.

One of the key steps in the prevention of emotional trauma is recognition and acknowledgement. Despite the difficulty of many victims in recognizing the abuse, acknowledgement is the first indicator that something is amiss and that something needs to be done. Once the victim is sure something is wrong, it is time to seek help.

In many situations, people are hesitant to report emotional abuse. They may feel that being victims of abuse is a source of humiliation or embarrassment. Yet, it is imperative that men and women suffering emotional trauma should inform others. If friends, family members or co-workers of the victims or abusers notice patterns of abuse, it is their duty to report it to preventive services that can take necessary action against mistreatment.

Abuse or violence of any sort is a severe offense and emotional abuse is no exception. The wide prevalence and practice of physiological abuse is a scourge to all humanity and a grave violation of human rights.

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