Psychological Abuse

Psychological Abuse
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_abuse

Psychological abuse, also referred to as emotional abuse is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another to behaviour that is psychologically harmful. It involves the wilful infliction of mental or emotional anguish by threat, humiliation, or other verbal and non-verbal conduct. It is often associated with situations of power imbalance, such as abusive relationships and child abuse.

Psychological abuse may occur as bullying of individuals by groups, often children, or it may be by one partner in a relationship. In domestic abuse psychological abuse nearly always precedes physical violence when this occurs, and also accompanies it.
Modern technology had led to new forms of abuse, by text messaging and online cyber-bullying.

Methods of abuse include causing fear by intimidation, threatening physical harm to self, partner, children, or partner's family or friends, destruction of pets and property, forcing isolation from family, friends, or school or work.[1] More subtle tactics include putdowns, hiding objects such as keys, then putting them back without the victim seeing, and denial that previous incidents actually happened.

In domestic abuse victims are frequently in denial about the abuse and are often manipulated into thinking that they are to blame for it. Victims often find it hard to leave an abusive relationship for a variety of reasons, emotional, financial and sometimes religious.