Frightened child, Author Jean-Francois Gornet, Paris, Source Selfie Velib, Originally Posted to Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0 Generic)
Emotional abuse is an underrated form of abuse, but no less damaging for that.
The warning signs of emotional abuse include the following [1]:
- A child who exhibits a lack of attachment to the parent.
- A child who is delayed in physical or emotional development, unrelated to an identifiable medical or psychological condition.
- A child who is either inappropriately adult (parenting other children) or inappropriately infantile (constantly rocking or head-banging, for example).
- A child who exhibits behavioral extremes (acute passivity or serious aggression; demanding behavior or abject compliance).
- A child who attempts suicide.
The parent who rejects his/her child will constantly blame, belittle, or berate that child. The parent unconcerned about his/her child’s well-being may refuse offers of help for that child’s school problems.
On the other hand, a parent can be so self-involved that his/her child becomes little more than a pawn for manipulation.
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[1] Prevent Child Abuse America, “Recognizing Child Abuse: What Parents Should Know”, https://preventchildabuse.org/resource/recognizing-child-abuse-what-parents-should-know/.
This series will continue next week with Part 3 – Physical Abuse
RETRIEVED https://avoicereclaimed.com/2020/01/12/vigilance-part-2-emotional-abuse/