PTSD From Emotional Abuse

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Emotional Abuse?What Is Complex PTSD?Treatment and Coping Mechanisms for Complex PTSD

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

What Is Emotional Abuse?

What Is Complex PTSD?

Treatment and Coping Mechanisms for Complex PTSD

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If you’veexperienced emotional abuse in your life, you already know that the side effects have a tendency to last longer than the abuse itself.

To find out more about how people can cope with the mental aftermath of emotional abuse, Verywell Mind spoke toFrank Anderson, MD, a psychotherapist and psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of trauma patients.

This article covers why it’s important to recognize negative patterns in relationships, and how they tie back to past abuse. It also describes complex PTSD and breaks down how you can find success in a relationship while overcoming past abuse.

How Complex PTSD (C-PTSD) Differs from PTSD

According to Anderson, emotional abuse can result in effects that mirror those of severe traumatic incidents. All forms of abuse can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder.

While it’s easy to identify physical andsexual abuse, emotional abuse can be hard to see, especially when you’re in the thick of it. Anderson explains a couple of reasons why it can be so hard to identify.

“First off, it’s often what they [my clients] grew up with, [emotional abuse is] all they’ve known, and [it] becomes normalized,” says Anderson. “Secondly, it is often experienced as what I call an invisible wound. If I can’t see it or experience it physically in my body, such as a bruise or broken bone, then it must not be real.”

This, of course, is far from the truth. Emotional abuse can include screaming, belittling,gaslighting, manipulating, and any kind of constant pattern that another person uses to break down someone’sself-esteem.

Anderson notes that emotional abuse can also include neglect and a lack of love from others. Emotional abandonment, where a caregiver is physically present but emotionally absent, can lead toemotional trauma.

He further explains that emotional abuse takes place in the context of relationships and often involves a parentearly on in life. This is known as a relational violation and is often referred to as complex PTSD.

Signs of Emotional Abuse From Parents

While, complex PTSD (C-PTSD) is not an official diagnosis in theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), The International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS)outlines the symptoms that comprise complex PTSD when paired with self-regulatory disturbances:

Anderson explains that he bears these dysfunctions in mind when helping clients who have complex PTSD. He helps them recognizeunhealthy patternsthat keep popping up in their relationships.

By explaining the symptoms to his clients, Anderson “helps them link their past to the present day and paves the way toward healing the abuse and developing healthy relationships in their lives moving forward.”

Emotional Abuse and Future Relationships

First and foremost, there is a linkbetween people who experienced abuse—emotional, physical, or sexual—in childhood, and those who have unhealthy romantic or intimate relationships. This means that people who have experienced abuse are more likely to end up in relationships that are abusive later in life.

One theory is that the person is attempting to create a similar situation to handle it differently and break the pattern. Unfortunately, this usually results in the person finding themselves in a romantic relationship that is abusive.

Anderson works with patients to make sure that they recognize signs of emotional abusers in future relationships. He recommendsInternal Family Systems (IFS) therapyfor many of his patients that have experienced emotional abuse.

Treatment Methods and Coping Mechanisms for Complex PTSD

Bessel van der Kolk, a psychiatrist and researcher best known for writing “The Body Keeps the Score,” notes in a paper that complex PTSD requires what he refers to as phase-oriented treatment.

He breaks this down into six phases, all of which could require different types of medications and therapies.

Phase six addresses coping mechanisms, however you can find all of the phases below:

A Word From Verywell

By working with a therapist, it is possible to overcome PTSD that you’re experiencing as a result of emotional abuse. Remember that it’s easy to fall back into old relationship patterns, and while you may have to work to recognize this pattern in your life, you will definitely be happier once you’ve addressed your trauma.

5 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.New ISTSS Prevention and Treatment Guidelines.Giourou E, Skokou M, Andrew SP, Alexopoulou K, Gourzis P, Jelastopulu E.Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: The need to consolidate a distinct clinical syndrome or to reevaluate features of psychiatric disorders following interpersonal trauma?World J Psychiatry. 2018;8(1):12-19. doi:10.5498/wjp.v8.i1.12Chiang L, Howard A, Gleckel J, et al.Cycle of violence among young Kenyan women: The link between childhood violence and adult physical intimate partner violence in a population-based survey.Child Abuse Negl. 2018;84:45-52.McCarthy G, Taylor, A.Avoidant/Ambivalent Attachment Style as a Mediator between Abusive Childhood Experiences and Adult Relationship Difficulties.The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.1999;40(3):465-477.Bessel van der K MD.The Assessment and Treatment of Complex PTSD. In:Traumatic Stress. American Psychiatric Press; 2001:15-18.

5 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.New ISTSS Prevention and Treatment Guidelines.Giourou E, Skokou M, Andrew SP, Alexopoulou K, Gourzis P, Jelastopulu E.Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: The need to consolidate a distinct clinical syndrome or to reevaluate features of psychiatric disorders following interpersonal trauma?World J Psychiatry. 2018;8(1):12-19. doi:10.5498/wjp.v8.i1.12Chiang L, Howard A, Gleckel J, et al.Cycle of violence among young Kenyan women: The link between childhood violence and adult physical intimate partner violence in a population-based survey.Child Abuse Negl. 2018;84:45-52.McCarthy G, Taylor, A.Avoidant/Ambivalent Attachment Style as a Mediator between Abusive Childhood Experiences and Adult Relationship Difficulties.The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.1999;40(3):465-477.Bessel van der K MD.The Assessment and Treatment of Complex PTSD. In:Traumatic Stress. American Psychiatric Press; 2001:15-18.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.New ISTSS Prevention and Treatment Guidelines.Giourou E, Skokou M, Andrew SP, Alexopoulou K, Gourzis P, Jelastopulu E.Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: The need to consolidate a distinct clinical syndrome or to reevaluate features of psychiatric disorders following interpersonal trauma?World J Psychiatry. 2018;8(1):12-19. doi:10.5498/wjp.v8.i1.12Chiang L, Howard A, Gleckel J, et al.Cycle of violence among young Kenyan women: The link between childhood violence and adult physical intimate partner violence in a population-based survey.Child Abuse Negl. 2018;84:45-52.McCarthy G, Taylor, A.Avoidant/Ambivalent Attachment Style as a Mediator between Abusive Childhood Experiences and Adult Relationship Difficulties.The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.1999;40(3):465-477.Bessel van der K MD.The Assessment and Treatment of Complex PTSD. In:Traumatic Stress. American Psychiatric Press; 2001:15-18.

International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.New ISTSS Prevention and Treatment Guidelines.

Giourou E, Skokou M, Andrew SP, Alexopoulou K, Gourzis P, Jelastopulu E.Complex posttraumatic stress disorder: The need to consolidate a distinct clinical syndrome or to reevaluate features of psychiatric disorders following interpersonal trauma?World J Psychiatry. 2018;8(1):12-19. doi:10.5498/wjp.v8.i1.12

Chiang L, Howard A, Gleckel J, et al.Cycle of violence among young Kenyan women: The link between childhood violence and adult physical intimate partner violence in a population-based survey.Child Abuse Negl. 2018;84:45-52.

McCarthy G, Taylor, A.Avoidant/Ambivalent Attachment Style as a Mediator between Abusive Childhood Experiences and Adult Relationship Difficulties.The Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry and Allied Disciplines.1999;40(3):465-477.

Bessel van der K MD.The Assessment and Treatment of Complex PTSD. In:Traumatic Stress. American Psychiatric Press; 2001:15-18.

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