They say that talk is cheap. If you can talk, and anyone can, then the value and impact of words may not amount much to anything. Oftentimes, we hear a lot of people apologizing with lame excuses. 'Shit' is just a common expression. 'Bitch' is meant only as a joke. Words become lightweight and inconsequential.
We take verbal communication lightly. We underestimate the impact of our words. How we actually express our thoughts and opinions is more of a reflection of our connection and relationship with a person than the excuses and justifications that belie it. Our words and how we say them can be a form of abuse.
What Verbal Abuse Is
Verbal abuse is when our words harm a person emotionally. Just like the rest of our behavior, our words are our own responsibility. Talking is, after all, an action that utilizes words to form thoughts and opinions.
Criticism that seeks to malign, attack, and condemn a person is verbal abuse. Lashing or acting out in anger and name-calling are other expressions of verbal abuse.
Because verbal abuse is not as clear-cut as other forms of abuse like physical and sexual abuse, it may be more of a challenge, identifying its instances. Nonetheless, verbal abuse has real and devastating effects on its victims.
Verbal Abuse Causes Anxiety And Is Devastating
The stress and trauma with verbal abuse are linked to various mental conditions or disorders. One common pattern that emerges among these disorders is Anxiety. It is imperative to inform people that verbal abuse harms people the same way physical or sexual abuse does.
Abusers insult their victims' emotional and mental well-being. This is lethal. It is an assault to the mind that communicates the damage done to it by ravaging the body with negative sensations.
Our body is not immune to constant wear and tear. It will eventually shut down. Victims get physically and mentally sick. The abuser forces you to listen. You become speechless and powerless. The feeling is similar to physical assault. Abusers use words as weapons against their victims as human beings.
Power And Dominance Over Its Victims
Verbal abuse manipulates you into thinking and feeling you are worthless, useless, and inferior. Verbal abuse fuels its perpetrators to chase power and dominance and robs their victims of ownership, control, and power over their identities and lives.
If you are a victim of verbal abuse, it is important to physically remove yourself from the presence and control of the abuser. The mind needs to rid itself of the control the abuser has on it.
Mindfulness and healthful boundaries will help the victim cope. Filter your dominant thought patterns. Negativity will remain toxic as if you are still being abused.