Verbal or emotional abuse is a very serious matter that millions of people suffer from each and every day. This kind of abuse is very hard on both the abuser and the victim because of the devastating results it has on the people"s emotions and everything they do. In America today there are one to two million people suffering from this kind of abuse.

             Verbal or emotional abuse, is when a person, the abuser, tries to make his or her own self feel better by putting down a certain individual, the victim. The longer this goes on, the harder it is for the victim to recover his or her self-esteem.

             Verbal or emotional abuse are put downs that happen on a regular basis from one particular person, usually done in private. These put downs are mostly insults that tell you that you are no good. These phrases, "You are Ugly," "You don"t deserve to live," Its your fault," are examples of verbal or emotional abuse. The abuser persuades the victim to make them believe something that is untrue and harmful by using words. They use these words to attack, hurt, injure someone, or to gain power over them.

             These kinds of abuse, performed by the abuser, are done for various reasons. The abuser may have such low self-esteem, that they use these hurtful put downs to make themselves feel better, by highering their own self-esteem. They may also get some sort of cruel pleasure or enjoyment out of seeing other people suffer. When the abuser is confronted with verbally or emotionally abusing someone they just deny it. Another reason a person would verbally or emotionally abuse someone, is because they believe they are behaving normally and are unaware that they are really hurting the victim with these powerful words.

             The victims in emotional and verbal abuse situations, usually are not the ones to identify they are being abused. They usually find out about this after seeking professional help because of signs of depression and uncontrollable mood swings, usually crying.