Is mental abuse as bad as physical abuse in a relationship?

Abuse is abuse!! But I truly believe that physical scars heal quicker than emotional ones. Words hurt more than fists. Thankfully I've never been punched but I have been verbally abused and it can bring you down if you don't have enough self esteem or knowledge on how to react to it.

I must agree with you that mental abuse is just as bad as any other kind of abuse.It can make you feel inadiquit and very self consious.I used to find it very hard to feel good about my self as the abuse from another person made me feel so low and bad about myself that i lost my confidence to go out side in public with out wearing long sleeved tops and jogging bottoms all because of a person calling me a name due to me having a skin problem.It took me along time to change to who i am today.Im now going out in low cut tops with no sleeves and my skin condition has got alot better as less stress.

Yes it is ! even for some people mental abuse will more severe than physical, I cant not forget to someone who shouting at "pig" just because I was passing through him with my motor cycle when I was in a hurry, afraid of late and wanted to cath my morning train !hahaha, ok, I cant still laugh to that evidence but surely I dint forget yet, The good aspect is that this scons changed me not to pass anyone roughly at stree however I will be at ruch situation. I also cant forget someone SPITing towards me at the same situation at street also, hahahaha, if I were not in a hurry I prefer to fight first rather that stand and keep it at my heart, even perhaps I didnt mind hit his face many times !! even today if I remember this man I still want to hit his face severely hahaha..

No abuse whatsoever period, either mentally or physically, they have the same affect. Mentally abuse imprints in the person's brain and physical abuse would come back and haunt the person so they both have the same affect. In this world, it is rude to see one person abuses another, we should have the same value of life and should enjoy as much as the other person does. Just imagine, if you hurt someone either mentally or physically and someone else does the same to you, will you be able to take it? Cheers!

Emotional abuse is deeper, as you said physical wounds heal over time but the ones caused by verbal or emotional abuse are not so easy to get through! You can also call the cops for physical abuse and there can be easy intervention. With emotional abuse, you cannot even prove it has happened and can't press charges against the person causing them. I took myself and my children out of a situation with much verbal, emotional abuse. I am not sure you ever totally heal... maybe... I don't know.

I think that they go hand in hand because when you get physically abused you need to leave and when you have been mentally abused you cannot because that mental abuse makes you feel like you are nothing without the person I dont know if you understand I have been in a abuseive relationship and when the person hits me I know in my head that I needed to leave but I could not physically leave because I had been so programed that I thought If i left I would be worth nothing even though I think I was already worth nothing by staying there a abuser takes all value away from you, they make you feel like you are nothing without them

Let me tell you a story about my wife. In her first marriage she had a husband that never ever was physically abusive but was very abusive mentally. He kept putting her down and telling her how worthless she was and of course if she ever brought up getting help it got even worse. It got so bad that she begin to loose all of her self confidence. He controlled pretty much everything she did. He had to know what and where she was at all times and as time went on she was much like you..she didn't know that she could get out much less do it. At some point it got so bad that even she knew it had to end. The only way she could make it happen however was to take her child while he was at work and packed up a few things and left. She went back to live with her mother...several states away. This worked for a little while and of course he found her and tried everything he could to get her to come back. She begin to know that as long as he knew where she was he would always be doing this so decided to move half way across the country to live with her sister. He would not know where she was. She did this and it was a very big step in both her daughter and her life. She then begin to become much more independent. She no longer had anyone telling what she had to do or to keep track of her and she found herself again. By then she had divorced him and that was that. If you knew her today you would never believe that she had no self confidence at one point in her life. She is a very independent woman. Mental abuse can be as bad or even worse than physical because it controls your every waking moment. You carry no scares except what is inside you which makes it even worse. Who would ever believe that this goes on behind closed doors. We all need love and we need respect. All of us. When we don't get that from the one we love we do one of two things. We loose respect for them or ourselves. And no matter what they say it will never change. One thing I keep seeing you say is very telling. You keep saying that he doesn't have the problem it is you. He has brainwashed you to the point you actually believe that. It is soooo not the truth. He has a very serious problem or he would treat you with the respect and love you deserve. It is not your problem it is all his and you are suffering for it. You must begin to take back control of your life. You must. If that means divorce then by all means do it. If you have tried many times to have him seek help and he will not you can better believe he will never change. Seek help from whoever you can to begin making a plan for you to do what you need to do. What my wife did was once she knew she had no choice she begin hiding money back so he would never find it and when she finally had enough she left. If finances are a consideration in your not knowing what to do then this is a possibility. Consider this....what ever you do to get out of this situation is justified. He does not respect you so it is up to you to begin standing up for yourself and do the right thing. You will never ever regret it I assure you.

They are both as bad. You will never forget any of them.

I believe that emotional abuse can be just as harmful, if not even more harmful infact, than physical abuse. Just because a person doesn't have any scars or bruises doesn't mean that they haven't been damaged. One of the greatest thing in relationships is love and trust. If a particular partner prevents you from having these things, then that could have an effect on potential partners in the future. The bullying nature of just one partner can affect you for the rest of your life, and nobody should have to put up with that.

I agree with what you said here. Mental abuse cause chronic effects on that particular person. Just like a nightmare keep on lingering on that person's dream. I just can't imagine what that person would become if he can't handle that abuse.

Mental abuse can take years to heal.

As I have always said bruises go away but the damage you cause by emotional abuse will never leave you. I was in a relationship in which the guy was very emotional abusive, okay it was my ex husband, in fact after we divorced and I moved told him I was moving from our small home town to the big city of Chicago (across country move) he told me that I would be home in three to six months crying to my mom, that the city would eat me alive. When in fact within three months I was promoted to senior buyer, I purchased my own apartment over looking lake Michigian and well spent New Years eve at a by invitation only party overlooking time square. You can just imagine how happy I was to send him the picture of me standing in front of that big picture window with the ball behind me. For nine years he told me I was stupid, that I would not be anywhere without him, that my life was nothing without him and that he was surprised that I could get dressed alone. He told me that I did not run right, as in go running, run down the street. yes I did not even run right. Our biggest fight was when I put the ketchup in the wrong place in the fridge, and you got it I could not even do that right. The first thing I did when he moved out was re-arange the entire fridge and toss the ketchup.

Mental abuse or emotional abuse is not as bad as physical abuse... Sometimes it helps as to improve our or the abuser's way of life depending how we react on it. That is why we should always do our best to learn how to take it positively so that it could be constructive rather than destructive for both ends. Physical abuse on the other hand could lead to a fatal result which is a great loss. Life is precious and it should be valued. But still of course abusing is still bad and evil...

I completely agree with what you're saying. The only thing I don't agree with is in time physical wounds will heal. In my opinion physical wounds turn into mental wounds. Sometimes those physical wounds turn into permanent scars. Wheather physical or emotional it takes a toll on your body. I completely agree with what you say about children. I know of a few people personally who have children that stay sick constantly. These people don't see that the instability in these childrens lives make them sick the way they are. I see a lot were these parents put the blame on their children for being in their present situation. Our babies did not ask to be here. We brought them here and it is up to us provide for them and give them the values they need to get ahead in life.

mental abuse can be worse more of the time i think but i know people who go through bad physical disabilities and its possible to be worse than mental abuse as some suffer terrible physical pain. i feel so sad for them as the doctors can only do so much as well as me and the person whos suffering. Theres situations where physical pain can be worse. Were talking about physical and mental abuse though and not disabilities. Mental Abuse is worse most of the time.

hi i feel mental abuse is more worse than physical abuse.as the physical abuse can be healed over a period of time.but when a person undergoes mental abuse,it remains with them their life long. when a child is abused mentally,then they turn up to be psychos and undergo some mental disorders.so one should always control their anger and be always calm and loving. happy mylotting

for me, mental abuse is worse than physical abuse. its right , true that wounds in skin heals faster but mental wounds takes very long time to heal...it causes depression, low self-esteem and everything... but both of them are still abuse and no one deserves it.

I believe it is just as bad as physical abuse. You can break someone down and ruin the way they see themselves. Especially children. Unfortunately their are no laws against it. CPS does not recognize it. Well not in Texas anyway. I have a sister-in-law who causes at her kids and calls them all sorts of names. I hate it! I don't understand why people do it. It does not make anything better. In fact it makes things worse in my opinion. I try to tell my daughter as many postive things as I can. Like you are so smart. Or you look so beautiful. And of course when she does something mean I tell her that is not nice we don't do that. She is almost 2 but I think she hears a lot of what I say to her. I think it is important to build our kids and show them what I call positive direction. Tell them when they do wrong and show them the right thing to do. When they are older their are ways of punishing them whitout yelling or cursing.

i think emotional abuse it's worse because it eats you inside and even after it stops, it will continue to hurt you for years to come. it's jusst dreadful.

I grew up in a home where there was a lot of mental and physical abuse. Back then people were allowed to hit their kids with a belt and we never heard of emotional abuse. I can tell you I am 54 years old and have spent years and years in therapy trying to deal with childhood issues. The physical wounds heal and I have pretty much forgotten them. They were not severe. But the mental anguish has left me with low self-esteem and no confidence in myself. You never get over that. What my dad did would be against the law if he did it today. I love my dad and I see him out of duty because I am a good daughter. But the way I was raised did a lot of damage and I do not know if it will ever completely heal. I know I was not that way with my kids because I knew how it felt and never wanted my kids to grow up with the emotional baggage I grew up with.