This article gives examples that help people recognize the meaning of emotional abuse.  They interview   three women who have been emotionally abused by either their husband or boyfriends.First, Danielle Malmquist was emotionally abused by her husband John. He would constantly criticize her by telling her that she wasn’t a good mother. He would make Danielle question herself, making her feel like she might not be a suitable mother for her own child. She found herself trying really hard not to disappoint him but finally after four years of marriage, she caught John cheating on her and took the opportunity to divorce him. When her legal advocate handed her a sheet of paper to list the abuse, she pushed it away because she did not realize she had been abused by John. Then, her advocate told her that if he ever yelled at her, called her names and disrespected her that is abuse.

Emotional abuse can take on many forms such as name-calling, telling people they’re useless, making rules to control your behavior and throwing furious tantrums.  Jen Martin was charmed into dating a guy named Dan, who, before she knew it, began calling her stupid, criticizing her driving, and the things she would say. One day Dan got so furious that he smacked her in the face and Jen left and went to a friend’s house where she called a domestic violence organization and had an advocate explain the typical cycle of violence. The advocate told her that tension will build between the couple and the abuser will explode, then apologize and promise it won’t happen again. Then the article explains that for identifying emotional abuse you will see a pattern that occurs over and over again.

Deanne Schulz fell in love with a man named Kyle who came home drunk and then accused her of not loving him enough.  One day Kyle sent her a message that said he was tired of disappointing her and he was in bed with a gun.  She went to therapy and when she told the therapist all the things that had happened in her relationship with Kyle, she realized how insane it was.  The next time he had a gun she commanded him to leave and called the police.  Lastly the article says no matter what your situation is the best thing to do is call a domestic violence organization hotline to find out how severe your situation is and get help to get out of that relationship.

                                                           

                 

Work Cited

 Joiner, Whitney. “Invisible violence.”  Redbook Magazine. October 2008.

 

 

I chose “Invisible violence” because when I saw the picture I felt like I could relate to the girl sitting on the floor with all those questions, name calling, and critics on the walls. Redbook Magazine is a credible source because it is a women’s magazine that interviewed real people including real psychologist to give a better definition of emotional abuse.  This article relates to our class because we have talked about both self-esteem and relationships. The information from this article makes me aware that if any guy ever tries to abuse me whether verbally or physically that I can get help to get out of it and move on with my life. It makes me angry that other people put people down just to make themselves feel better, however I am glad that there is help available.