How to cope with and stop emotional abuse

So a few weeks ago we shared thoughts on how to pick up on the fact that you might have an emotionally abusive partner.

When emotional abuse is severe and ongoing, a victim may lose their entire sense of self, sometimes without a single mark or bruise. Instead, the wounds are invisible to others, hidden in the self-doubt, worthlessness and self-loathing the victim feels. In fact, research indicates that the consequences from emotional abuse are just as severe as those from physical abuse.

The question becomes, how does one cope?

We found a resource in HealthyPlace which helps us:

Understand the abuser – while it can seem counterintuitive to have compassion for the abuser, sometimes changing the way you view the abuser can give you insight into coping with the abuse. Often abusers are insecure, anxious or depressed and remembering that may help you to keep the abuse in its proper context – the abuse isn’t about you, it’s about them.
Stand up to the abuser – just like the playground bully, emotional abusers don’t like to be challenged and may back down if you challenge their abusive tactics.
Find positive ways to interact with the abuser – if you can handle the abuser in a neutral way, you may be able to see the positive in the abuser and find new ways to interact with him or her that is positive. This is mostly seen in workplace environments.
Change the subject or use humor to distract from the situation.
Never support acts of emotional abuse of others.

Stopping emotional abuse takes courage. Use these techniques when stopping emotional abuse:

Regain control of the situation by acting confident and looking the abuser in the eye.
Speak in a calm, clear voice and state a reasonable expectation such as, “Stop teasing me. I want you to treat me with dignity and respect.”
Act out of rationality, with responses that will help the situation, and not out of emotion.
Practice being more assertive in other situations, so you can be more assertive when being emotionally abused.

Next, we will talk about getting the right counseling and how to get there.

With information from Healthy Place and Very Well Mind

Image credit: Online For Love