Verbally Abusive Relationships
Is a Relationship Actually Abusive Even if The Person Doesn't Hit
"It's not possible that I am engaged in an abusive relationship - my partner's never hit me."
Does this statement sound familiar to you? It could be that this sentance or another one that's quite similar has been said to you by someone you are friends with, or a relative - or maybe even yourself. It's facile to attempt to defend a degrading partnership as "not actually abusive" only for the reason that your partner has never tried physical violence, but does that actually exclude it from the category entitled "abusive" relationships?
Frankly, the response is "No."
Relationships can be put into several descriptions without ever going to the level of physical contact - for example, verbally abusive relationships.
Verbally abusive relationships are when one of the partners is consistently berating and talking down to the other one. This could involve insults, calling names, screaming, or condescention. In some situations, the partnerships are equally verbally abusive, meaning, both participants are verbally abusive to each other.
Even if the relationship is "simply" verbally abusive (instead of physically), it could take a tremendous toll on someone's soul and can be incredibly unhealthy to be a part of. Days on end of listening to hostile comments regarding your own person, expressed in the most hostile and poisonous voice imaginable, slowly destroys someone's self concept. Then when that becomes year after year of being forced to listen to a constant flood of verbal abuse, there can be harm inflicted on the person's self-concept that can be irreparable.
If you know of a person (possibly you) who might be in a damaging, harmful partnership with someone who constantly talks down to them or screams at them, help them to seek assistance before the violence gets worse. The person might have the opinion that the violence will not escalate to "real" violence, and the truth is that it may or may not.
The main point is, that it's not important if it gets worse or it doesn't. The hurt is being done right now, one violent word at a time.
About the Author
To find out more about abusive relationships, specifically verbally abusive relationships, check out http://squidoo.com/abusiverelationships.
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