What is Verbal Abuse?

Google “verbal abuse”. When the search results come up, you’ll notice that verbal abuse is often combined with emotional abuse. Other types of abuse that will pop up include physical, financial and sexual. While the psychological effects of verbal abuse and other forms of domestic violence (DV) are emotional, they can be identified by some key markers. Verbal violence is identified as something someone says to another person that intentionally changes their thoughts, feelings or behavior (ie. Verbal abuse is a mode of control). It’s associated with specific verbalizations, such as:

• Yelling or raising the volume of the voice
• Criticism, especially for independent achievements
• Withholding praise, especially for independent achievements
• Making mean jokes about appearance (“you’re ugly) or abilities (“you’re stupid”)
• Threatening physical violence
• Threatening to take something away that is important

Verbal abuse leaves no acute or visible marks of violence. No bruises or physical…