What Is Emotional Abuse?
Two types of emotional maltreatment are generally recognized: emotional neglect and emotional abuse.
Emotional neglect is the consistent failure of a parent or caregiver to provide a child with appropriate support, attention, and affections.
Emotional abuse is a chronic pattern of behaviors, such as belittling, humiliating, and ridiculing a child.
Both types of emotional abuse attack a child’s emotional development and sense of self-worth.
THE PARENT
- Blames or belittles child;
- Ignores or rejects;
- Withholds love;
- Treats siblings unequally;
- Refuses treatment for child’s problems;
- Seems unconcerned about child’s problems; and
- Has unresonable demands or impossible expectations without reguard to child’s developmental capacity
Consider the possibility of emotional abuse when the child:
THE CHILD
- Has habit disorders such as biting, head banging, rocking, or thumb sucking in an older child;
- Is antisocial, destructive;
- Has sleep disorders;
- Displays behavior extremes: 1) compliant, passive, undemanding 2) aggressive, demanding, rageful;
- Is self-destructive;
- Displays overly adaptive behavior: 1) inappropriately adult [eg. parents other children] 2) inappropriately infantile or emotionally needy;
- Has developmental lags (emotional or intellectual).
Children need approval, love, and someone to show genuine,positive interest in them. Children who are not fed properly suffer physical malnutrition. Children who are not loved and valued suffer emotional malnutrition. Both are serious and have life-long consequences.
Related articles
- Emotional Abuse: The abuse no one ever told you about (joannewellington.wordpress.com)
- Emotional Abuse of Children Due to Implacable Hostility Between Parents (Is it PA or something else?) (cutie79.wordpress.com)
- Child abuse affects one in five (cutie79.wordpress.com)
- Volunteer for Online Emotional Abuse with Psychotic Boyfriend Simulation App [Apps] (gizmodo.com)
- Is the parent fit to parent a child? (cutie79.wordpress.com)
