Staying in an emotionally or verbally abusive relationship can have long-lasting effects on your physical and mental health, including leading to chronic pain, depression, or anxiety. Read more about the effects on your health. You may also: Question your memory of events: “Did that really happen?” (See Gaslighting.)
Emotional abuse is linked to thinning of certain areas of the brain that help you manage emotions and be self-aware — especially the prefrontal cortex and temporal lobe. Epigenetic changes and depression. Research from 2018 has connected childhood abuse to epigenetic brain changes that may cause depression.
The psychological effects of verbal abuse include: fear and anxiety, depression, stress and PTSD, intrusive memories, memory gap disorders, sleep or eating problems, hyper-vigilance and exaggerated startle responses, irritability, anger issues, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide, self-harm, and assaultive behaviors.
The danger is in the unseen emotional damage to others. It contributes to many physical health conditions, such as chronic pain, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety, self-harm, and depression.
The Effects of Verbal Abuse
Verbal abuse can leave you feeling worn out, devastated, hurt and afraid to assert yourself. It can lead to a sense of vulnerability because the more it's experienced, the more we can get “used to it.” We start to tolerate being talked to by our child in ways we never thought we would.
“The mental health impact of verbal abuse accumulates over time and is often experienced as depression, anxiety, and lowered self-esteem. When not addressed, it can cause someone to doubt themselves and their capabilities.
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is highly associated with verbal abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse, physical abuse, and/or domestic violence often suffered by those who are non-borderline.
People engage in verbal abuse for a variety of reasons. Family history, past experiences, personality, and mental illness are a few factors that can play a role. The goal of the abuser is to control you by making you feel bad about who you are.
Emotional abuse is often a misunderstood form of trauma, perhaps the most damaging type of abuse, that leads to long-term consequences for adults (Heim et al. 2013).
Verbal abuse.
Children who had experienced such verbal abuse were three times as likely as other children to have borderline, narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive or paranoid personality disorders in adulthood.
Being frequently yelled at changes the mind, brain, and body in a multitude of ways, including increasing the activity of the amygdala (the emotional brain), increasing stress hormones in the bloodstream, increasing muscular tension, and more.
These include insults, humiliation and ridicule, the silent treatment, and attempts to scare, isolate, and control. Emotional and verbal abuse also includes violence that isn't directed specifically at people but is used to intimidate, like slamming doors, throwing things, destroying belongings, or harming pets.
A verbally abusive relationship can cause a person to become plagued with depression, the gradual development of introversion, mood swings, lowered self-esteem, misplaced guilt, isolation, loneliness, and posttraumatic stress disorder or PTSD (Lommen & Ehlers, 2014; Malenka & Deisseroth, 2014; Sullivan, 2018).
A verbally abusive relationship can cause a person to become plagued with depression, mood swings, lowered self-esteem, misplaced guilt, isolation, loneliness, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Childhood emotional abuse and neglect can result in permanent changes to the developing human brain. These changes in brain structure appear to be significant enough to potentially cause psychological and emotional problems in adulthood, such as psychological disorders and substance misuse.
There are other reasons why some people are more prone to verbally abusive behavior than others -- such as drug or alcohol problems, childhood abuse, attachment disorder, narcissistic personality disorder, and even low self-esteem -- however, it is not our place to come up with a diagnosis, nor is it helpful.
Verbal abuse (also known as verbal aggression, verbal attack, verbal violence, verbal assault, psychic aggression, or psychic violence) is a type of psychological/mental abuse that involves the use of oral, gestured, and written language directed to a victim.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is commonly associated with physical sources of trauma, such as war, physical assault, or sexual assault. But mental health experts have come to realize that emotional abuse can lead to PTSD as well.
While physically violent people might be able to recognize that their actions were wrong, at least in the eyes of the law, psychological abusers may really believe their reality to be the truth.
Common examples of narcissistic abuse include: Withholding: This may include withholding such things as money, sex, communication, or affection from you. Emotional blackmail: Emotional blackmail is another form of manipulation to make you feel fear, guilt, or doubt.
Experiencing abuse or other trauma puts people at risk of developing mental health conditions, such as: Anxiety disorders. Depression. Post-traumatic stress disorder.
Victims may put aside their own needs to please a narcissistic abuser. Chronic stress triggered by emotional and psychological abuse can create physical health issues such as premature aging, weight gain or loss, and a suppressed immune system.