Emotional abuse can be incredibly damaging, increasing a person’s chances of developing depression and anxiety
sometimes for decades after the fact. Broadly speaking, emotional abuse involves one person controlling another
by undermining their sense of self-worth and personal agency. But emotionally abusive behaviors can be subtle and difficult to spot,
both from within and outside the abusive relationship. That’s partly because emotional abuse often exploits
or creates power imbalances between individuals, especially in relationships where safety, care, and trust
are supposed to be guaranteed, like the relationship between a caregiver and a child,
healthcare provider and patient, teacher and student, or intimate partners. It’s especially insidious because it often makes people doubt
their perceptions of their own mistreatment. So let’s walk through some of the most common signs of emotional abuse,
to make these behaviors and patterns easier to spot in real life. First, the content of someone’s words:
criticism that’s out of proportion to a situation, excessively harsh or personal, or makes sweeping generalizations
