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The idea that physical abuse is the only abuse we need to take seriously needs to die absolutely immediately Emotional abuse is persistent, real and insidious
by AndrewKemendo 3y ago
The idea that physical abuse is the only abuse we need to take seriously needs to die absolutely immediately
Emotional abuse is persistent, real and insidious in ways that physical abuse cannot be because it does not have directly causally induced external symptoms.
I can see when someone’s being physically abused and intervene via established processes. Knowing that somebody is being emotionally abused, however, is so much harder because it requires all of the parties to acknowledge that abuse is happening. Unlike physical abuse, an emotional abuser can totally destroy your life and make you think that it’s your fault and you’re the problem.
As somebody who has dealt with both physical and emotional abuse from family, I feel like long term emotional abuse is way more harmful over the longer term and for society as a whole than physical abuse (which thankfully is almost unheard of because we made such a big deal about it over the last few decades).
- s1artibartfast 3y ago>The idea that physical abuse is the only abuse we need to take seriously needs to die absolutely immediately So does categorial groupings intended to trigger reactions by association. On the facts, I wholeheartedly agree that emotional abuse can be worse than violence. Calling it violence obfuscates the real differences in execution, mechanism, and impact. Abuse is bad, both emotional abuse and violent abuse.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jimbokun 3y agoThey are very different phenomena, with different best practices for addressing them. Conflating them all as "violence" without making distinctions just confuses things.
- tsimionescu 3y agoOn the other hand, yelling or insulting someone is not automatically emotional/psychological abuse, so the GP's point stands. Not every bit of somewhat violent behavior is even problematic - human interaction is much more complex than that.
- JohnBooty 3y agoAbove all else, I hope that you are in a better place now and you continue to heal. I'm curious about the context of this reply, though. It didn't seem like they were claiming that "physical abuse is the only abuse we need to take seriously?"