Effects of Childhood Emotional Abuse
By: Alexis Hilliard-McDowell
CMCS
Abstract
Emotional abuse is a form of an abuse that typically goes unnoticed due to it being a wide range of psychological damage being easy to repress and hide, Gale (2000) describes this as “rejection, ignoring, critizing, isolation, and terrorizing of children” (p. 2) and are mainly done through verbal reprimands. This type of abuse harms the child in short term and long term due to the highly damaged self-esteem they now have, other common displacement issues when young that occur would be disturbances in sleep, head and stomach aches, running away from home, and avoiding school. Emotional abuse is caused when a parent or guardian genuinely feels
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The reason why research is so important in this is because if looking at the common attributes in the childhoods of adults who have mental illnesses later then there can be a better understanding of where to start to help and where to start to prevent theses long term effects. Also, a way to help them move past their emotional trauma. As well as helping a person understand why they are the way they as if the abuse shaped them over time. This paper examines what type of person is developed when their childhood has emotional …show more content…
Reasons for the abuse to occur is all due to the childhood of the parent, relative, or whomever the abuser appears to be. There can be many reasons for why it they choose the abusive route as well as why they chose emotional abuse over physical abuse. The reason for that would be that they think emotional abuse is not actually abuse, they believe they are disciplining correctly, that they are just doing what their parents did, or they just do not realize what their verbal actions are actually extremely important for their child’s development. These all are due to them typically being not ready for the responsibility that raising a child comes with. Children are young and their brains are so moldable so everything that occurs in these childhood stages are crucial in their make-up of their adult version of themselves. The abuser could genuinely feel affection toward the child, but they may have something else going on, on the side, such as a mental illness of their own. This would handicap them from understanding what they are doing is wrong and how it is affecting the child. The abuser could also be dealing with an addiction, which would cause them to be impaired ad not be classified as a suitable parent. The problem with this type of abuse is that it almost always reoccurs when the person being abused has a child of their
Currently, there are many children whom suffer from emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in their family. Emotional abuse is the lack of interest or affection parents have towards their children. As a result of emotional abuse, children are left feeling worthless and unloved. Physical abuse refers to attacking children resulting visible bodily injuries from either being burned, pushed, punched, slapped, or whipped. Sometimes physical abuse can be extremely severe that children have broken bones, fractures, or hemorrhaging. Sexual abuse occurs when a person forces, tricks, or threatens children to have sexual contact. These acts of child abuse could prevent children from living a normal adulthood. In order to deal with such a traumatic childhood, adults abused as children should rid themselves of such burdensome, painful memories.
Physical and emotional abuse can originate from any source but the majority of the abuse generates from parental or adult figures and is direct toward a timid figure, typically a child. The abuser commonly chooses a more timid recipient because they will be less likely to stand up against the abuser. Physical abuse is maltreatment that involves actual contact between one body part of a person and an other body part of an other person, such as hitting or slapping. Emotional abuse consists of just the opposite: maltreatment that is directed to harming the individual psychologically, such as negative comments or put downs (National Exchange Club Foundation, 2000).
In several cases the cause of the abuse can be linked to family relationship issues. In the novel Sickened, by Julie Gregory, Gregory recounts her childhood with a mother who was diagnosed with Munchausen By Proxy. She tells the readers that her “mother married at the tender age of nineteen.” Marrying him when she was young caused them to argue with each other and they did not have a genuine relationship. Soon after her first husband’s death it seemed as though she was very desperate to find another husband because she felt isolated and alone, she craved the attention of being in an intimate relationship. Her crave for attention was the fuel for her desire to make Julie sick. A parent is also more likely to mistreat their children if their spouse has very little, or no, input in the family’s activities which leaves it to the abusive parent to control everything. In another situation where family relationships could be an issue, a woman named “Shannon Hudson had been trying to break up with the boys’ [her sons’ abusive] father when he shot her three times. Then shot himself” (Burling A1+). The abuses that lead up to the husband getting angry and frustrated with his wife caused the violent act that was a result of their relationship failure.
Emotional abuse is when the partner tells you things like “no one else will ever love you”, “you are worthless”, “you do everything wrong”, and so on. These are things that you think about all the time after it is said and you replay over and over in your mind. Emotional abuse can lead to you feeling like you have no self-worth, and could push you to do something drast...
EMOTIONAL ABUSE: Undermining a person's sense of self-worth, e.g., constant criticism, belittling one's abilities, name calling, damaging a partner's relationship with the children.
emotional abuse is insulting or labeling the child. Children become traumatized and insecure with this type of abuse.
Sexual abuse does not always involve touching or any body contact. It can involve exposing a child to sexual situations and that is considered being sexually abusive. Emotional abuse is any form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Anyone that has e...
Emotional abuse is any kind of abuse that is emotional rather than physical. “Emotional abuse can be elusive. It can include anything from verbal abuse and constant criticism to more subtle tactics, such as intimidation, manipulation, and refusal to ever be pleased. Some other signs of emotional domestic abuse would be domination, control, shame, accusing
Emotional Abuse, (also known as: Verbal abuse, mental abuse, and psychological cruelty) includes acts or the failures to act by parents or caretakers that have caused or could cause serious behavioral, cognitive, emotional or mental disorders. This can include parents and/or caretakers using extreme or bizarre forms of punishment, such as the child being confined in a closet or dark room, being tied to a chair for long periods of time, or threatening or terrorizing a young mind. Less severe acts, but no less damaging is overly negative criticism or rejecting treatment, using degrading terms to describe the child, constant victimizing or blaming the child for situations.
Childhood sexual abuse, as defined by the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA, 1996), includes using persuasion, enticement, and other inducements to coerce a child to engage in sexually explicit conduct or simulation of sexual acts. Survivors of sexual abuse frequently have a legacy of both psychological and physical problem throughout life. There has been considerable literature published in the past 20 years focusing on the long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse.
Abuse can happen to anyone, at any age, at any time. This is repetitive acts of behavior of wanting to maintain power and have control over someone whether it be through childhood, adolescents, or adulthood. This subject is sensitive as it impacts so many different people around the world. The topic of abuse is not just a family matter, it comes in all forms, such as sexual, emotional, and physical. Abuse is accompanied by the long term emotional tolls, especially on children because their brains are still developing and can take abuse harder than others. One question to ask, is how does one overcome abuse? As children and adolescents develop, how do they function emotionally and physically? These traumatic experiences that happen through
Emotional abuse is prevalent within our society. Some child experts “argue that almost all parents are guilty of emotional maltreatment of child at some time or another” (Crosson-Tower, p. 211, 2010). However, it remains “the most difficult type of abuse or neglect to define or isolate” (Rees, p. 59, 2010). While physical abuse leaves detectable signs like scars and bruises, emotional abuse is hidden deep within a person. It lacks the public profile of sexual or physical abuse (Rees, p. 59, 2010).
Emotional abuse has much in common with verbal abuse in that it is an attempt to hurt attack or control the victim. The emotional abuser often uses verbal abuse to hurt the victim, but can use other means as well. Emotional abuse often accompanies other forms of abuse such as physical abuse and verbal abuse. Individuals who hold the least power and resources in society are most often emotionally abused. This type of abuse has the potential to leave behind many significant hidden scars for the victim. Victims of physical abuse feel emotional abuse is more sever and debilitating than physical abuse. Out comes of emotional abuse may be manifested in a number of ways such as poor self esteem, social withdrawal, insecurity, substance abuse and difficulty forming positive attachments with others.
A persons emotions influence every aspect of ones lives. Especially when you’re a child, your emotions are vulnerable to every interaction they receive. When these emotions are beaten down and destroyed continuously, a common name for this is abuse. For example, Dee, a young married women, was emotionally abused everyday by her husband. He treated her as more of a servant than a wife and she eventually hated her life. She became depressed and eventually contemplated suicide. It wasn’t until then that she considered getting help (YWCA Mohawk Valley, 2014). Approximately one third of Canadians have experienced child abuse (CBC Radio, 2014) and approximately 8% of Canadians experience depression (Mood Disorders Society of Canada, 2009)? This is normally an uncommon conversation topic in today’s society because most people do not like to talk about it. The statistics above are connected; many people who experience abuse are prone to mental illness. When a child has been physically abused, there are noticeable bruises, or other effects on the person. On the other hand, most people do not recognize or even know the effects of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can deeply wound a child, and as the child grows, the scars will remain; the scars that people do not see that can cause a lifetime of suffering. These invisible scars can affect a person’s development as they struggle to accept themselves from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. Emotional abuse negatively impacts an individual’s self-esteem, which can in turn, cause depression and substance abuse later in adulthood.
To begin with, emotional abuse is a type of abuse that can hurt a child psychologically. The reason why this form of abuse can hurt a child psychologically is because it damage the way a child looks at him or herself. There are many different ways one can emotionally abuse someone. Some of these ways include name calling, degrading a child, or even showing no loving affection at all. Calling a child “worthless” or “stupid” is a form of verbal abuse that is categorized under emotional abuse. Caregivers may also constantly blame the child for things that may not even be their fault. When a parent begins purposely ignore the child as a form of punishment he or she is going to feel like they are not wanted or loved.