The Psychological Effects of Emotional Abuse. Online Therapy for Emotional Abuse.

Victims of emotional abuse suffer severe psychological effects that may not be immediate but can affect them later in life and throughout if not dealt with accordingly.

The consequences of emotional abuse in relationships or in families can cause individuals to develop toxic and unhealthy coping mechanisms, high-risk behavior, substance abuse and consequently this has a negative affect on their mental, physical and emotional well-being.

Best affordable online therapy for emotional abuse victims – Betterhelp

BetterHelp has been able to heal thousands of people and gain the confidence and strength to deal with their challenges and heal from their trauma.

With the close guidance and support, our emotional abuse therapists, family therapists and domestic abuse therapists are qualified, trained and experienced to offer you the most effective therapy for emotional abuse.

BetterHelp online methods of therapy are the best, most affordable, effective and convenient methods of conducting therapy.

With high-quality and professional support you will learn how to understand the psychological effects of emotional abuse, uncover the long term effects of an emotionally abusive relationship.

In addition, you will talk about the side effects of emotional abuse in adulthood or adolescence, as well as gain the necessary knowledge for you to heal.

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Shortly thereafter, based on your answers we will provide a selection of our top chosen emotional abuse therapists that you can choose from in order to get started with your emotional abuse therapy.

BetterHelp’s team of therapists, psychologists and coaches have worked tirelessly in making sure that we are able to provide you with the best therapy sessions for you.

If you are a victim of emotional abuse, or know someone who is, we strongly suggest connecting to an online emotional abuse therapist to assist you with overcoming your challenges.

As well as deal with any effects of emotional abuse on the brain, or the effects of an emotionally abusive relationship.

What are the psychological effects of emotional abuse?

Psychological effects of emotional abuse can cause both short-term effects and long-term effects that may not be immediately noticeable.

When assessing the psychological effects of emotional abuse, the nature and timeline of the abuse needs to be considered, as well as the individual.

Were you a child when you experienced emotional abuse? Did you experience verbal abuse in marriage? Are you struggling with the long term effects of an emotional abusive relationship?

BetterHelp therapy for emotional abuse victims will give you the support and guidance you need to heal from these problems.

The signs of emotional abuse are not always immediate, in some cases you may not even realize it.

Emotional abuse put you at risk of various mental health challenges including anxiety, depression, eating disorders and suicidal thoughts.

Additionally, emotional abuse is a form of abuse that is used to intimidate, overpower and frighten someone.

People who are emotionally abusive towards other will use forms of non-physical abuse such as:

Extreme destructive criticism
Insulting words
Name calling
Manipulation
Gaslighting
Guilt-tripping
Swearing or shouting
Controlling behavior

How do you identify the signs of psychological effects of emotional abuse?

Victims of emotional abuse will show signs differently according to their personality, and the nature of their abuse experience. Some signs can be detected as:

Short-term effects of emotional abuse:

Confusion
Hopelessness
Fear
Shame
Embarrassment

Consequently you may experience behavioral and physical challenges:

Muscle tension
Difficulty concentrating
Nightmares
Aches and pains
Racing heartbeat
Rapid or unexplained mood changes

Overtime, the effects of emotional abuse can manifest into severe low self-esteem and depression causing negative physical effects :

Chronic pain
Anxiety
Social avoidance or isolation
Insomnia
Chronic fatigue

All the above mentioned challenges are psychological effects of emotional abuse. It is important for you to recognize the effects as soon as possible in order to connect to an online emotional therapist in order to avoid the side effects of emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse victims can potentially face the effects of emotional abuse on the brain, these effects can be life threatening, particularly if the abuse happened during childhood.

It can impact your brain in these ways:

Emotional and empathetic reactions

Early emotional abuse causes damage to the hippocampus in the brain that makes it harder to empathize with others emotions.

Self-awareness

Emotional abuse is directly linked to affecting a part of your brain (prefrontal cortex) that helps to regulate and manage emotions.

Depression and epigenetic changes

This refers to how your environment affects your mood and responses to stimuli. Studies show that there is a direct connection between childhood abuse and the impact on your behavioral patterns and emotional reactions.

Can emotional abuse cause depression?

Emotional abuse causes a number of both short-term and long-term effects as a result of the body reacting to trauma. Yes, emotional abuse can cause depression.

Studies have shown that severe cases of emotional abuse can have the same and even worse effects as physical abuse.

As a victim of emotional abuse, you need to identify the signs of emotional abuse in order to better understand the effects of the abuse, as well as understand why you are suffering from depression due to emotional abuse.

How to tell if you have experienced emotional abuse:

Overt or covert insults, name-calling or swearing and yelling.
Invasion of your privacy – going through your personal message, mail or phone calls
Degrading or constantly putting you down
Continuously negative comments towards you
Overpowering or intimidating you by with anger or yelling
Restricting your contact with or time spent with friends and family
Constantly falsely accusing you
Blaming you for their short-comings
Gaslighting – a form of emotional abuse to manipulate and control you
Causing you severe anxiety
Refusing to acknowledge their bad behavior or mistreatment toward you
Subtle or overt threats to you or your loved ones

The above mentioned indicators are all common signs of emotional abuse, it may seem like something you can overlook and ignore as it comes across innocently and seems like genuine care for you.

Emotional abuse can cause depression before you even realize it. If you have identified any of the above signs, we urge you to connect to a professional therapist for emotional abuse and depression.

How to avoid the long-term effects of an emotionally abusive relationship?

The long-term effects of an emotionally abusive relationship can affect your self-image, your mental health, emotional and overall physical well-being.

Effects on future relationships

Emotional abuse in relationships can affect your behavior and tolerance or reactions towards certain behavior in your relationships. You may experience:

Codependency. As a result, long-term emotional abuse can leave you to feel as though your feelings or emotions don’t matter to anyone. This can lead to codependent behavior, disregarding your own boundaries, and people-pleasing behavior. You may also find yourself staying in abusive or toxic relationships.

Fear of abandonment. If you experienced emotional distancing as a tactic of manipulation in a relationship, you may have scars that cause you chronic stress. Consequently you could experience abandonment anxiety which could be labelled as clingy. It is a result of a deeply rooted fear of losing a support system

Trust issues. Previous emotional abuse can lead you to be unable to trust a new partner, constantly having doubts and questioning someone’s loyalty.

Authenticity challenges. If you experienced emotional abuse in the form of criticism and insults, it’s possible that you may have internalized some of these feelings or comments. In cases like these, victims can find it difficult and overwhelming to open up to a partner which leads to emotional distancing.

Unresolved emotional abuse trauma affects your mental health. Signs may include:

Social anxiety or avoidance. This happens when emotional abuse causes feelings of inadequacy, self-criticism and shame which makes you feel fearful of interacting with others.

Depression. Any form of emotional abuse is directly linked to depression in adulthood. It also increases your risk of developing an eating disorder.

PTSD. Post traumatic stress is when the body is unable to manage or process the shock from emotional abuse, causing PTSD. Living in shock and unable to release it.

The effects of emotional abuse are severely dangerous, both long-term and short-term. We highly encourage you to reach out to a BetterHelp emotional abuse therapist to help you through these challenges.

What are the effects of childhood emotional neglect on adults?

Childhood emotional neglect in adulthood can leave a grey cloud hanging over your head and seemingly make everything seem dull and negative as a result. When a child experiences emotional neglect, they are subconsciously taught to minimize, dismiss and ignore their own feelings to the point where they grow up feeling unsure of their own emotions and struggle to show empathy towards others. There are vital steps that are missed when there is childhood emotional neglect, as a child, you are none the wiser that your parents are meant to talk to you about your feelings, helping you understand them, notice when something is wrong, make an effort to acknowledge your feelings, or show interest or concern about your feelings.

These steps help you to grow up and better understand your own emotions, and be capable of identifying and addressing your emotions, these steps are vital because it allows a child to grow up feeling emotionally connected, aware and enriched.

These challenges may affect you late in life as a short-term or long-term effect of childhood emotional neglect:

A deep discomfort or awkwardness when addressing or expressing feelings with others – this applies to both positive and negative feelings.
A cycle of feeling disconnected, empty or emotionally numb, it comes and goes.
Believing that you are not capable or worthy.
A deep lack of understanding and self-empathy when it comes to your feelings.
Feeling very different to others in a way you can’t explain.
A tendency to always feel guilty or ashamed.

How to overcome childhood emotional neglect in adulthood?

The first and most crucial part of overcoming childhood emotional neglect is to acknowledge and accept that you have gone through the experience. It’s important to understand that the journey to recovery from childhood emotional neglect will be extremely difficult and painful. We highly recommend connecting to a therapist that specializes in childhood emotional neglect who is capable of helping you overcome and heal.

You can try these steps to get your recovery journey started:

Get in touch with yourself and get to know yourself better.

Take the time out to really try to better understand yourself on a deeper level, take notes of your vital moments that happened during your childhood and learn to unpack and understand how it made you feel. Introspection is a key component of recovering from childhood emotional neglect.

Self-acceptance.

Understand and acknowledge your needs and wants, acknowledge that your feelings are valid and normal and should be respected no matter what. Revisit your boundaries and how much you expect from yourself and how much of yourself you give to others.

Express yourself.

If something makes you uncomfortable, frustrated, hurt, or angry, speak up about it and allow people to hear and acknowledge your feelings and opinions. Slowly build your confidence and self-esteem by interacting in groups where you want to share your thoughts.

Self-Soothing.

A method of grounding yourself. As a child many times we found comfort in being soothed by an adult or a Teddy Bear, finding things that make you feel calm and safe, that way you will always know how to maintain peace if you start to feel anxious.

Talking to a childhood emotional neglect therapist will also benefit you greatly from a professional standpoint.

How does online therapy for emotional abuse victims work?

BetterHelp’s experienced, certified and professional psychologists, therapists and coaches.

We highly encourage you or anyone that you know who may have experienced emotional abuse from any form of or an emotionally abusive relationship, and are struggling with dealing with the psychological effects of emotional abuse, to seek help from a professional emotional abuse therapist to assist and support you with dealing with your trauma.

Therapy for emotional abuse victims is a convenient, effective and affordable method of therapy where you have the freedom of not only choosing your own therapist, but also your preferred method of therapy.

Whether you choose to have your sessions via phone call, video call, text or mail – you are guaranteed a high-standard of professional therapy from wherever you are.

How will online therapy for emotional abuse victims improve my life?

With BetterHelp online therapy for emotional abuse victims, your healing is our number one priority and we assure you the best therapy for emotional abuse victims.

We encourage all victims that have experienced any form of emotional or verbal abuse to get connected to a specialist that is trained and eligible to help you manage and overcome emotional abuse effects on the brain.

Your emotional abuse therapist is available 24/7 to be able to guide you through the journey of healing from your trauma.

It is not an easy challenge to work through and having professional support through it will help you alleviate the stress and anxiety of dealing with it alone.

BetterHelp aims to enrich the quality of your lives and give you the confidence that through these sessions, you will learn how to forgive those who have hurt you and move on to a happier and more fulfilled life.