Verbal abuse is one of the most common types of violence in everyday life. Unfortunately, this sometimes goes unnoticed, so that both the perpetrator and the victim are equally unaware that what they are experiencing is a form of violence.

Types of Verbal Abuse

Verbal abuse is a type of emotional abuse. Victims of verbal violence may not have physical scars, but they feel hurt and disappointment due to the violent behavior. In everyday life, verbal violence often occurs without realizing it. Verbal violence can also occur in the smallest social sphere, namely the family.

Here are the most common types of verbal abuse:

Calling with bad nicknames

In your social life, you may often hear someone calling someone else a derogatory name or a nickname that has a bad meaning. For example, calling another person "stupid,"  "dwarf," or "fool" is also an act that reflects verbal violence.

Read more: Tanda-Tanda Kekerasan Emosional dalam Hubungan Anda

Condescending

Certain sentences may be intended to be demeaning, but you may not realize that you are being demeaned. They are usually sarcastic, insulting, or patronizing. People who put you down generally want to make you feel discouraged.

Some forms of condescension include "Let me explain this in simple language so you can understand."

Criticizing

There is nothing wrong with criticizing. But you need to separate what is really meant to build up and what is meant to tear down because the two are sometimes difficult to distinguish.

If the feedback you receive is not constructive and is only derogatory, never appreciative of what you do, it could be a form of verbal abuse.

Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a systematic attempt to make you question your own version of the truth. You may even feel the need to apologize for mistakes you didn't make.

An example of gaslighting is when you are told that the events you are experiencing are only in your mind or are made up. To reinforce the illusion, you are assumed to be forgetful or have emotional problems.

Read more: Tips Menjadi Pendengar yang Baik Bagi Korban Kekerasan Seksual

Manipulation

Manipulation is an attempt to make you inevitably have to do something without making it a direct order. This behavior is meant to control you. Examples of manipulative sentences include "If you really cared, you wouldn't mind doing that."

Direct threat

Direct threats are also a form of verbal abuse. These words are spoken in order for you to become compliant. For example, "If you keep doing that, don't blame me if I leave.".

Silence

Silencing or ignoring someone is a form of verbal abuse that you can experience. This activity is deliberately done to make you feel uncomfortable and guilty.

There are often signs that you are experiencing verbal abuse that can be hard to detect. But if you feel like your self-esteem is low, you're pressured to speak up, and you're not free to express your opinions, then it's likely that what you're experiencing is a form of verbal abuse.

Constantly experiencing verbal abuse can be detrimental to your mental health. If you need medical advice or consultation, you can either visit a doctor or make use of the consultation features that are available in the Ai Care application by downloading the Ai Care application from the App Store or Play Store.

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