Emotional Abuse:

Emotional abuse includes hurting another person's feelings by saying cruel, unfair comments or by name calling such as:

• cursing, swearing and/or screaming at you
• repeated harassment, interrogation or degradation
• attacks on your self-esteem and/or insults to your person (name calling, put-downs, ridicule)
• attacks on and/or insults about people you care for, your family and friends
• threatening to "come after you" at work or visiting family or friends
• controlling and/or limiting your behavior (e.g.: keeping you from using the phone or seeing friends, not letting you leave the room or the house, following you and monitoring or limiting your phone conversations, checking the mileage on your car, or keeping you from reading material, ideas, activities and places that he does not like)
• forcing you to stay awake or to get up from sleep
• interrupting you while you are eating
• blaming you for everything that goes wrong
• forcing you to do degrading things (e.g.: making you kneel, making you beg for money)
• using the difference in physical size to intimidate you
• criticizing your thoughts, feelings, opinions, beliefs and actions
• treating you like a servant or "underling" in matters of household chores and decisions
• being extremely jealous, constantly accusing you of flirting or of cheating
• spitting at or near you
• using money to control you (e.g.: taking money away from you, giving you an allowance, controlling how any extra money is spent, forcing you to ask for and to account for any money you do get, and acting as if the work you do in the home is of no economic value to the family)
• telling you that you are "sick" and need therapy
• using physical disabilities against you or putting you down for your disability