Introduction
Psychological violence has a powerful effect on a person’s self-esteem and self-perception. It takes a long time to recover from the emotional scarring caused by the abuse. In order to escape from a situation of psychological violence and to find safety, it is essential to practice self-care and meditation, which will allow one to heal and escape from the circle of psychological violence. Moreover, psychological help will be one of the essential aspects of the fight against this harmful phenomenon. Thus, it is advisable to analyze the types of psychological violence and methods of combating it.
Definition and Types of Psychological Abuse
It is important to note that psychological violence is verbal or non-verbal violence to humiliate and control another person. Emotional abuse is the constant and deliberate infliction of emotional pain on another and not accepting their feelings. At the same time, it is not necessarily direct hurt or yelling at the person. It can be in the form of subtle and skillful manipulation and humiliation. Emotional abuse can manifest itself in the following behavior (Ä°biloÄźlu, 2020). This behavior includes ignoring, silencing, threatening, harassing, systematically controlling, monitoring, arguing, intimidating, scolding, humiliating, criticizing, blaming, and manipulating. Additionally, as opposed to other types of violence, psychological violence is less obvious because it does not leave physical evidence but is harder to identify and detect.
In the family, the collective, psychological violence does not necessarily manifest itself in the form of signs of beatings and bruises; it manifests as serious emotional problems and, in its worst manifestation, mental health disorders. Moreover, a form of psychological abuse is difficult to detect, but it is essential to do it in time and receive professional help (Ä°biloÄźlu, 2020). Ignoring the problem only exacerbates it and, as a result, precedes an even worse form of abuse, which is physical violence.
Furthermore, types of psychological violence can take many forms. Abusers can intimidate, coerce, humiliate, ridicule victims. It can also manifest itself in harassment, constant control, threats, manipulation, and labeling. In addition, the victim of psychological abuse will feel emotional pain, which then leads to insomnia, psychosomatic disorders, and as a result, health issues (Ä°biloÄźlu, 2020). It is significant to emphasize that psychological abuse of adults and children can happen in any relationship. It can occur in friendships, work relationships, intimate relationships, or family relationships. Yet, abuse at work, and at home is one of the most common forms of psychological abuse and is considered a serious problem in society.
Additionally, not only can emotional violence be expressed in verbal abuse, shouting, or cursing, but it can also manifest in the rejection of the thoughts and opinions of victims. Abusers can express their violence by rejecting the thoughts and views of victims, and they cannot communicate with such people by shutting themselves inside. Another type of psychological violence is gaslighting. Its phenomenon is to make people doubt through the manipulation of their own feelings and thoughts (Velotti et al., 2018). Moreover, it is accepted to see social violence as pressure and damage to reputation and relationships by publishing photos without permission.
Otherwise, it could be insulting when people are publicly accused of everything and called terrible expressions. Such a form of violence as public humiliation is a form of social violence. Accordingly, abusers can cause fear in their victims by threatening and intimidating them. They can restrict freedom of movement and independence of thought, and this is also similar to social violence (Velotti et al., 2018). It should be noted that domestic violence can also appear as financial abuse. This means that in this case, the partner can control the money, take the money, and humiliate the other participant.
Signs of Psychological Abuse
It is essential to recognize that the indications of psychological abuse can vary. However, one warning symptom may be that people are constantly upset, agitated, detached, or taciturn. It could also be a symptom that they are afraid to talk to other people and that they are timid around them. An indication that a person is being psychologically abused is unusual behavior. This manifests itself in rhythmic rocking, biting, or sucking their fingers. On the other hand, there are other signs that manifest themselves in last-minute cancellations of plans, excuses for their harmful words, and ugly behavior.
Alternatively, it can also appear in constant apologies, manifested excessively or in total indecisiveness, and insecurity about oneself and one’s actions. Otherwise, it is displayed by such signs as a continuous rush in movements and minute-by-minute phone monitoring. Moreover, the symptoms of psychological abuse may be insignificant at the initial stage. That is, abusers are still just beginning to probe the ground, and then the violence in the relationship will continue to grow, becoming more and more threatening to the victim. At the same time, it is crucial to remember that any form of psychological violence, however it may be, no matter who it originates from is still damaging to the person and is unacceptable under any circumstances.
Effects and Consequences of Psychological Abuse on the Victim
A person’s psychological abuse of another person has devastating consequences. Situations, when they occur, can cause intense emotional stress and lead the victim into a state of stress, discomfort, and depression. Such psychological trauma can lead to a breakdown in health. In addition, recognizing the impact of psychological abuse on the victim can be in three categories of its manifestation Schindeler & Reynald, 2017). This can manifest in verbal aggression, dominant behavior, and jealousy. All of these have a different impact on the person. Related disorders affect a human being’s livelihood and become the cause of personality changes.
Moreover, the manifestation of violence and its diagnosis occurs differently in different age categories. Elder abuse can manifest as insomnia, irritability, anxiety, decreased self-esteem, and more. In children, it is reflected in disturbed sleep, decreased educational performance, inattention, lack of concentration, the emergence of many complexes, and delayed development Schindeler & Reynald, 2017). Both in children and adults, the consequences of psychological violence may manifest themselves in health problems and diseases. It can also be visible in difficulties in forming relationships with people and partners, anxiety, suicidal tendencies, panic states, loss of self-esteem, and low self-esteem.
At the same time, it is quite challenging to survive psychological violence on one’s own. It is almost impossible to cope with this problem alone. Experiencing emotional stress for a long time, people may undergo significant personality changes. Violence can occur at school, in the community, in the family, and even in romantic relationships or online, and the trauma can be inflicted on a child or an adult. It is acceptable to encounter emotional abuse from friends and in an educational setting Schindeler & Reynald, 2017). Moreover, it can be short-term or permanent, but silence is not the solution to the problem; it is necessary to remember this.
The methods and help of persons who have been subjected to different kinds of emotional abuse may vary according to the time of the influence. In the short term, the effects may manifest as a craving for loneliness, bashfulness, insecurity, low self-esteem, fear of communication, and confusion of thoughts. In addition, the fear of being in a similar situation and suffering from a sense of powerlessness. However, if psychological abuse occurs over a long period, the consequences are even more severe Schindeler & Reynald, 2017). It leads to deterioration of mental health, depression, neuroticism, problems with sleep, chronic stress, also, heart problems, and psychosomatic pain in the body may occur. There are also consequences of apathy and relationship problems.
Methods of Fighting Psychological Abuse
The release from the psychological abuse of the husband, wife, or others should not come in the form of a similar response or an attempt to change the abuser. Equally, there is no need to search for ways to learn to live with it in a conflict. It is important to remember that to stop psychological violence, to prevent it, it is possible to use such methods. First, it is essential to carefully examine the abuser because those who want to humiliate another morally are often reduced, suffering from internal pain (Schindeler & Reynald, 2017). They do not feel safe from this world and feel depressed and doubtful of themselves. Therefore, the violence directed at others only affects them.
Moreover, it is important to defy the abuser; one should not be afraid of it, because abusers have low moral principles emotionally and are often cowardly when they feel a firm fight back. They were probably beaten and humiliated in childhood, too, and want to take revenge on others but are physically afraid to commit it, so they act emotionally (Held, 2020). Likewise, it is possible to know their line of behavior with the abuser. To address abusers in their manner is unnecessary, but silence is not an option. For example, in the collective emotional abuse can be avoided if one finds positive ways to interact with such people; it is worth using humor or changing the topic of conversation.
It is complicated to prevent psychological violence because abusers do not feel responsible for their actions. This will require courage for the victims; they will have to become more confident and not be afraid to look the abuser in the eye. More than that, try to control the situation and communicate in a calm tone with the abuser Schindeler & Reynald, 2017). This advice, however, is a kind of prevention from emotional abuse. It is required to turn to a specialist who has experience in resolving such issues in order to find help. It is possible to obtain support for psychological violence from a specialist psychologist (Held, 2020). Especially since the concept of emotional abuse is now receiving more and more attention from the public, centers are being created to help people affected by it, where people will be surrounded by care and approval.
Conclusion
Thus, psychological moral, or emotional violence is a way of non-physical pressure on the human psyche. The result of constant pressure is the rejection of one’s own attitudes and acceptance of the attitudes of the partner. Furthermore, psychological tyrants destroy the personality of victims, break their attitudes, and lower their self-esteem. Therefore, it is essential to develop confident behavior and maintain emotional health in order to resist the abuser. Nevertheless, if psychological violence cannot be avoided, it is advisable to ask for professional help.
References
Held, B. S. (2020). Epistemic violence in psychological science: Can knowledge of, from, and for the (othered) people solve the problem?. Theory & Psychology, 30(3), 349-370.
Ä°biloÄźlu, A. O. (2020). Mobbing (psychological violence) in different aspects. Psikiyatride Guncel Yaklasimlar, 12(3), 330-341.
Schindeler, E., & Reynald, D. M. (2017). What is the evidence? Preventing psychological violence in the workplace. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 36, 25-33.
Velotti, P., Beomonte Zobel, S., Rogier, G., & Tambelli, R. (2018). Exploring relationships: A systematic review on intimate partner violence and attachment. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 1166.