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- Hey Psych2Goers,
and welcome back to another video.
Thank you so much for all the love and support
that you've given us.
Psych2Go's mission is to make psychology
and mental health more accessible to everyone.
Now let's begin the video.
Emotional abuse is defined as a pattern
of behavior where someone intentionally
and repeatedly uses non-physical acts
to demean your behaviors,
effective functionality and your overall mental wellbeing.
It is serious mistreatment
of your feelings and emotional needs.
If you or someone you know is in an abusive situation,
we want to urge you to get the help that you need.
We have resources provided
in the description below that you can use.
With that said,
let's look at six types of emotional abuse.
One, they hold a power of corruption.
Does this person force you into things you don't want to do?
This looks different than having
to make sacrifices in your relationship
or giving into peer pressure.
In an emotionally abusive relationship,
this person will threaten negative consequences
if you don't do what they want you to do.
The art of corruption starts out with small things
like asking you to skip work or school without warning.
And then will lead to bigger manipulations
like unwanted alcohol or substance abuse.
The act of gambling, or even theft.
Two, they exploit you.
Does this person ignore your boundaries?
Do they seem to care only
about the favors you can do for them?
Exploitation is a type of emotional abuse
that can be hard to notice
because they can start off
with very simple requests and favors.
You might be happy to oblige them in the beginning
because you wanna seem nice and respectful
but it can reach a point of toxicity
when they cross over your established boundaries
and repeatedly ask you for money, connections, or things.
The abuser might have a hard time empathizing with you
and their focus will be on manipulating you
into getting what they want from you.
Three, they lash out verbally.
Does this person lash out at you with their words?
Do they get loud and yell a lot?
Frequent outbursts that involve yelling,
swearing, insulting you or humiliating you
is another type of emotional abuse.
This is also called verbal abuse.
According to the American Psychological Association,
verbal abuse is when one uses harsh words
to demean, belittle or frighten you.
You might use verbal abuse
to deflect attention off of themselves,
or from discussing the state of your relationship
or they frequently ignore you.
Do they frequently give you the silent treatment?
Do they seem suspiciously dodgy
about certain aspects of your relationship.
When someone is frequently and repeatedly ignoring you,
it's so they can manipulate your feelings.
It makes you question your own behavior
and whether or not you did something
to make them act so coldly towards you.
This shifts the attention towards yourself
instead of on their abusive behavior.
And this might prompt you to apologize to them
just so they'll acknowledge you again.
The emotional abuser though
will continue to use this tactic when they want something
or to try and deflect blame off of themselves.
Five, they isolate you.
Do they repeatedly make negative comments
about the important people in your life.
Have they even cut you off from your friends and family?
This type of abuse
generally masquerades as a positive notion.
They might argue that they're isolating you to protect you
from getting hurt by other people
or try to convince you that spending even
a little time with others
will take away from bonding time with them.
If they're over protective
in a way that stifles your ability to grow as a person,
this is a sign that they're trying to isolate you.
Isolation leads to complete dependence on the abuser
which gives them another level of power over you.
And six, they throw out harmful verbal threats.
Does this person threaten to abandon you,
blackmail you or get mad at you
if you don't do what they want?
Do they threaten to physically harm you
but never follow through on those threats?
If you try to leave the relationship
they can manipulate you into staying
when they say something like
"You'll never find someone who loves you the way I do."
They may play the victim card
and make you feel guilty for wanting to leave them.
In extreme cases,
they may even threaten suicide.
This is extremely unhealthy and toxic.
If you think you're being treated like this
in your relationship,
please know that it's not your fault.
Emotional abusers are nasty manipulators
and they can make almost anything sound believable.
You have every right to feel supported, loved
and respected in your relationship with others.
Remember that there are resources that can help you
listed in the description below.
If this video did help you
or you think it might help someone else,
feel free to share it.
Don't forget to hit the subscribe button for more videos
and we'll see you next time.
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