CHILD EMOTIONAL ABUSE

Indicators of Emotional Abuse
Notes:

 

Sticks and stones

  • Long after the bruises have faded, the words and actions remain etched in the brain.
  • Indicators can be vague so you need to pay attention and use communication.

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Information:

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Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me – who says that anymore? The reality is that this old saying couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact many experts believe that of all types of abuse, it is emotional abuse that produces the most destructive consequences and it is actually the emotional abuse component of physical and sexual abuse that has the most detrimental impact on the development of children.

Basically the argument is that physical scars heal – but emotional scars are there for life. So let’s look at ways we can recognise child victims of emotional abuse.

Emotional abuse indicators can be vague and many of the behaviours can also be due to a child’s character, or an isolated traumatic incident such as a close relative dying or family breaking up.