Mental Abuse

Mental abuse is the use of threats, verbal insults, and other more subtle tactics to control a person’s way of thinking. This form of abuse is especially disturbing because it is tailored to destroy self-esteem and confidence and undermine a person’s sense of reality or competence.

Mental abuse has been tagged as ‘mental cruelty and ‘intimate terrorism’ because of the serious dangers of this behavior.  In mentally abusive relationships, one person may be led to believe that they are crazy. An abuser might twist reality to cast doubt on memories, and even how things are perceived.

Mental abuse relies on tactics that ridicule, insult, frighten or exploit. Ultimately, reality and self-worth become tied to an abuser.

But while different relationships can be uniquely abusive for mental well-being, this maltreatment usually follows a similar pattern of behavior that makes it easy to identify.

The signs of mental abuse include:

Name-calling

Abusive words are a common tactic used by abusers to ridicule and demean. Minor mistakes like forgetting to take the trash out, or even mispronouncing a foreign word, are all that’s needed to call a person stupid or an embarrassment.

Humiliation

Another common thread across mentally abusive relationships is the amount of humiliation endured. As a way to show control, an abuser can poke fun at everything from insecurities to changes in appearance.

Withholding affection

To get in a victim’s head, abusers will often withhold love, attention, praise, or their presence from a partner.

Making threats

Whether it is to leave the relationship, take the children away, or recommend a demotion — mental abuse will often use threats to gain control over another. Threats are a way to ensure that a person is placed in constant terror or fear.

Turning tables

To cement their hold on the relationship, abusers will often place the blame for their cruelty on the victims

Indifference

One of the hallmarks of mental abuse is a lack of concern shown by abusers. Victims may be moved to tears or struggle with pain caused by the actions of supposed loved ones. This doesn’t faze an abuser and might even trigger more anger.