What is Emotional Abuse Exactly? Taking a Hard Look at a Buzzword

a post by Peg Streep via the World of Psychology blog

For a time, I belonged to a large closed Facebook group dedicated to supporting people who thought they were in various kinds of abusive relationships; I told the administrators who I was and that I was there largely to see, as a writer, what people were most concerned about. I did not post comments.

But one of the astonishing revelations was how much of the dialogue was really about validating what constituted abuse in a relationship.

That’s the problem with buzzwords, like “emotionally abusive,” “verbally abusive,” “narcissist,” and others; they sometimes lose their meaning when they get tossed about, especially in groups when people are trying to be understanding. This doesn’t mean, course, that emotional or verbal abuse don’t exist; they are very real.

But how do you distinguish between a pattern of abuse and just lousy or reactive behavior? Is there a difference?

Continue reading to discover that yes, there is a difference and how you can distinguish between them.

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