Everyone has arguments or disagrees with their partner from time to time. However, if these disagreements begin to form a consistent pattern in your life, then it may be a sign of emotional abuse. Emotional abuse (also known as psychological abuse/violence) is often characterised by a person exposing another person to behaviour that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety and low mood.
Abuse is not always physical or as obvious as being hit or shoved. Certain abuse, especially emotional abuse can often go unnoticed by many, even the people in the relationship. Emotional abuse can damage an individual’s self-esteem and make them feel worthless and unloved. It can be very frightening and have a long term negative impact on mental health and wellbeing.
Below is a list of some warning signs of emotional abuse. Any one of the following signs are serious. You do not need to experience all of them for your relationship to be abusive.
It’s important for an individual in an emotionally abusive relationship to realise that it is absolutely not their fault. Abusers are the type of people who will manipulate and get you to believe whatever has happened is your fault, but it is not. Abusers can also convince you that you do not deserve better and that they are trying to help you.
If you feel that you are in an abusive relationship, then you need to get help and leave the situation to ensure your safety. It’s important that you tell someone you trust about the abuse and ask them to support you. Go to the Gardai or police.
If the abuser is living in your home then you might need a temporary place to live in safety. There are refuges for victims of abuse and the Gardai or police will be able to help you. If you’re under 18 you can get help from social services.
When your partner is emotionally abusive, it can be difficult to speak out against what is happening. Remember that even though they may be loving towards you some of the time, abuse is wrong and illegal and you should never have to endure it.
