16 Indications of Emotional Abuse That Can Lead To PTSD
PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) is today commonly associated with physical trauma, like assault or spending time in war zones. However, PTSD is far more common, and mental health has found that emotional abuse, a form of psychological trauma, can leave a similar effect on the nervous system as physical trauma. Here are signs that emotional abuse one is experiencing can lead to PTSD.
Gaslighting
This form of manipulation can cause a person to doubt their own sanity, memory, and perception, and it often happens in a relationship with the victim not being aware of it for a long time. Long-term exposure to this abuse can lead to anxiety and depression, increased self-doubt, and PTSD.
Isolation
Isolation is another indication of emotional abuse that could take time to detect. Most abusers start small by creating situations that make it easy to remove victims from their wider social circles. It continues until the victim is all alone, making it impossible for them to confide in their friends or family members.
Humiliation
The humiliator takes the role of an oppressor. Humiliation is a common way to punish someone for their behavior, and it can start small, with snarky comments, and turn into threats of physical violence. Though less talked about, it is noticed overwhelmingly among victims of domestic violence, though it is not limited to what was once a romantic relationship.
Financial abuse
The goal of almost all abusers is to gain power over their victims. That includes financial or economic abuse, which also can have various degrees, but the aim is to limit the victim’s access to finances because money represents power. It is a way for an abuser to ensure that a victim cannot leave them, and that’s why it was noticed in over 90 percent of domestic violence cases.
Blame-shifting
Abusers dominate their victims by convincing them they are responsible for their abusive behavior. That’s also a way to deflect from their abuse and minimize the outcome. It can cause anxiety, avoidance, fears, and even trauma and PTSD.
Activity monitoring
Demanding to know where’s the victim at all times, tracking them, or even using home surveillance technology is a way to intimidate them. The victim gets a sense that the abuser is always around, so they are forced into submission. It is control within control, and while it can start subtle, it usually escalates, leaving the victim anxious, frightened, and withdrawing from others.
Using insecurities
When someone uses insecurities to further bring someone down, it may initially sound like a nontopic, but as the abusers learn more about the victim’s weak spots, things get to turn ugly fast. It is another form of emotional manipulation that can lead to codependency or “relationship addiction.”
Smokescreen
A smokescreen is an attempt to control the general direction of one’s thoughts. This manipulation technique usually occurs when the victim raises concerns regarding the relationship, and to deflect, abusers create distortion, an illusion. It is a way to control one’s thinking, especially when dealing with a specific problem.
Negging
Negging is a form of emotional manipulation where somebody insults you with a backhanded compliment to damage your self-esteem. It is a sign of possessiveness, making it a form of emotional abuse. While it can start light, negging is a way for an abuser to break your self-esteem, and it can quickly spiral into physical abuse.
Bringing up the past
Abusers will bring up the past in an effort to justify their actions while destroying the victim’s confidence and self-worth. Bringing up the past can be a weapon to “win” an argument, and the aim is to make the victim feel unworthy, so they surrender into submission. It can heighten feelings of anxiety and fear and trigger trauma or even PTSD.
Intimidating
Intimidation is used to force a victim into doing something by threat of violence. It can start with constant criticism and subtle manipulation, but the goal is to make a person so fearful that their self-esteem diminishes. Though we are mostly talking about relationships, it is also common for children to experience intimidation from their parents or guardians, which can have life-long consequences.
Removing freedom
An abuser can start picking clothes and personal hygiene products and continue by regulating when the victim sleeps, showers, or eats. By making a person feel inferior, even reducing them so they lose their sense of self, abusers can do whatever they want. It is a way to remove one’s freedoms through various techniques, from love bombing to humiliation, isolation, and gaslighting.
Guilt-tripping
Guilt tripping is another form of manipulation that aims to make the person feel guilty to please the other. Most people use guilt tripping in everyday life, but in extreme cases, it is a form of emotional abuse. This behavior is common in romantic relationships, friendships, and parent-child relationships, and it takes time to establish patterns and cause damage to one’s psyche.
Chronic criticism
Criticism, like most manipulation techniques, starts small, and the person can initially believe that their partner, for example, is trying to be helpful. However, if criticism becomes a way to belittle you while leaving you feeling unloved or unvalidated, it can damage your well-being.
Conditional acceptance
This form of verbal abuse signals that you are not enough. It can be as simple as saying, “I would love you more if you did this…” or “You did not make dinner. What am I even getting out of this?” Once things continue piling up, your self-esteem and self-worth diminish while the other person has more control over you.
Overactive jealousy and possessiveness
Intense feelings of jealousy often lead to possessiveness. The abuser feels inferior and is scared of you leaving, and to prevent that from happening, they will come up with various scenarios and accusations to establish control.
21 Obvious Signs of People with Low Intelligence
