Doherty, D., & Berglund, D. (2008). Psychological abuse: A discussion paper. National Clearinghouse on Family Violence. This paper includes a definition of emotional abuse and lists some psychologically abusive tactics and behaviors.
Stark, C. A. (2019). Gaslighting, misogyny, and psychological oppression. The Monist, 102(2), 221-235. This paper is about gaslighting in a more social sense when it comes to women’s testimony.
Mechanic, M. B., Weaver, T. L., & Resick, P. A. (2008). Mental health consequences of intimate partner abuse: A multidimensional assessment of four different forms of abuse. Violence against women, 14(6), 634-654. A paper with a section that talks about the serious impact of psychological abuse.
Porrúa-García, C., Escartín, J., Gómez-Benito, J., Almendros, C., & Martín-Peña, J. (2016). Development and validation of the scale of psychological abuse in intimate partner violence (EAPA-P). Psicothema, 28(2), 214-221. This paper looks at measuring and formally evaluating psychological abuse, and in so doing includes questionnaires that provide helpful examples of what emotional/psychological abuse looks like.
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. (CW: written from a white, Western perspective that can manifest as racist and biased language, particularly in regards to African and Asian experiences)
Complex PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving—A Guide and Map for Recovering from Childhood Trauma by Pete Walker
Burnout by Emily and Amelia Nagoski
The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense by Suzette Haden Elgin
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Abuse and Relationships A comprehensive guide to recognising abuse in its many forms
How to Deal with Anxiety A guide on anxiety that covers: causes, common types, symptoms and tips for management/prevention
Many of us find the tale of Bluebeard to be a useful allegory. In our experience, a Bluebeard is a serial collector in a position of influence with a pattern of secrecy, who uses numerous deception tactics to keep their targets separate, and leverages power to keep their targets quiet.
Merriam-Webster notes that a contemporary use of Bluebeard can mean "to seduce and then reject one woman after another.”
Artist Meredith Yayanos was the first to suggest the term Bluebeard in connection to Warren Ellis. She explores Bluebeard patterns in this video.
The use of psychological force to cause the learning and adoption of an ideology or designated set of beliefs, ideas, attitudes, or behaviors. In a psychologically coercive environment, the victim is forced to adapt in a series of small "invisible" steps. Each step is sufficiently small that the subject does not notice the changes or identify the coercive nature of the process until much later, if ever. Psychological coercion overcomes the individual's critical thinking abilities and free will – apart from any appeal to informed judgment. Victims gradually lose their ability to make independent decisions and exercise informed consent.
A disorder resulting from repeated trauma over time, rather than a single event. Any type of long-term trauma, over several months or years, can lead to CPTSD. However, it seems to appear frequently in people who’ve been abused by someone who was supposed to be their caregiver or protector. Symptoms may include:
A habitual chain of activities that will be repeated, enjoyed by the subject to cause them to continue the activity. Typically, this loop is designed to create a neurochemical reward in the subject such as the release of dopamine. Compulsion loops are deliberately used in video game design as an extrinsic motivation for players, but may also result from other activities that create such loops.
Consent occurs when one person voluntarily agrees to the proposal or desires of another. Free and informed consent can be said to have been given based upon a clear appreciation and understanding of the facts, implications, and consequences of an action.
Source - Wiki
Source - RAINN
An environment where numerous people or networks are familiar with someone's misconduct, yet permit that misconduct to continue without repercussions. This permission may materialise as feigned ignorance, "looking the other way", covering up, or otherwise enabling said misconduct. One example of a vast culture of complicity is outlined in this New York Times piece about the systems of facilitation surrounding the Harvey Weinstein case.
Short-term effects of emotional abuse may include:
Long-term effects may include:
Pete Walker, M.A, MFT, coined the concept of fawning in the context of trauma as the fourth “F” in the fight, flight, freeze, fawn series of trauma responses. He writes, “Fawn types seek safety by merging with the wishes, needs and demands of others. They act as if they unconsciously believe that the price of admission to any relationship is the forfeiture of all their needs, rights, preferences and boundaries.” Symptoms of fawning include:
Because fawn types struggle to take up space and express their needs, they are more vulnerable to emotional abuse and exploitation.
A form of psychological manipulation in which a person or a group covertly sows seeds of doubt in a targeted individual or group, making them question their own memory, perception, or judgment, often evoking in them cognitive dissonance and other changes including low self-esteem. Using denial, misdirection, contradiction, and misinformation, gaslighting involves attempts to destabilize the victim and delegitimize the victim's beliefs. Instances can range from the denial by an abuser that previous abusive incidents occurred, to the staging of bizarre events by the abuser with the intention of disorienting the victim.
A colloquial term used to describe the practice of ceasing all communication and contact with a partner, friend, or similar individual, without any apparent warning or justification, and subsequently ignoring any attempts to reach out or communicate made by said partner, friend, or individual. Ghosting may be especially hurtful for those on the receiving end, causing feelings of ostracism and rejection. Some mental health professionals consider ghosting to be a passive-aggressive form of emotional abuse, a type of silent treatment or stonewalling behaviour, and emotional cruelty.
Grooming is the predatory act of maneuvering another individual into a position that makes them more isolated, dependent, likely to trust, and more vulnerable to abusive behavior. Applies to any behaviour where a person is prepared so they unwittingly allow abusive behaviour or exploitation to occur later. The abuser typically befriends or builds a relationship with the victim in order to establish a relationship of trust. Although it is a common belief that grooming is most relevant to children, the same or similar psychological processes are used to exploit adults, which typically involves:
A human condition involving focused attention, reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion. Hypnosis usually begins with a hypnotic induction involving a series of preliminary instructions and suggestions. During hypnosis, a person is said to have heightened focus and concentration. Hypnotised subjects are said to show an increased response to suggestions. Erotic hypnosis sessions may take place face-to-face, over video conferencing or text chat, or through pre-recorded audio files or videos, and may involve suggestions that are to take effect during trance or afterwards, in the form of post-hypnotic suggestions, some of which might be triggered by an action or situation.
A metaphor for a person within a social group who many people know is untrustworthy or otherwise has to be "managed,” and whom they work around by quietly warning others rather than dealing with openly. The reference is to a dangerous structural fault such as a missing stair in a home, which residents have become used to and accepting of, and which is not fixed or signposted, but which (most) newcomers are warned about.
A form of emotional and psychological abuse primarily inflicted by individuals who have either narcissistic personality disorder (NPD, which is characterized by a lack of empathy), or antisocial personality disorder (ASPD, also known as sociopaths or psychopaths), and is associated with the absence of a conscience.
An act of emotional manipulation whereby a person makes a deliberate backhanded compliment or otherwise flirtatious remark to another person to undermine their confidence and increase their need for the manipulator's approval. The term was coined and prescribed by pickup artists.
A type of associative learning process through which the strength of a behavior is modified by reinforcement or punishment.
Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that aims to change the behavior or perception of others through indirect, deceptive, or underhanded tactics. By advancing the interests of the manipulator, often at another's expense, such methods could be considered exploitative and devious.
A philosophical strategy for responding to conflicts. Transformative justice uses a systems approach, seeking to see problems as not only the beginning of the offense but also its causes, and tries to treat an offense as a transformative relational and educational opportunity for victims, offenders and all other members of the affected community.
A manipulation tactic where one person will not communicate directly with another person, instead using a third person to relay communication to the second, thus forming a triangle. It also refers to a form of splitting in which one person manipulates a relationship between two parties by controlling communication between them. Triangulation may manifest itself as a manipulative device to engineer rivalry between two people, known as divide and conquer or playing one (person) against another.
An informal chain of information passed privately between women. According to Laura Palumbo, communications director for the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, whisper networks can serve as “informal information sharing where you're confiding in someone in your circle because you don't necessarily feel the information is safe for you to make public.”
These are his best-known online communities and the ones our stories references most often. This is not an exhaustive list of his online communication channels; he also used private forums.
The Warren Ellis Forum, which ran from 1998 to 2002.
Warren Ellis’s second forum, which ran from 2005-2007.
Warren Ellis’s forum from 2007-2011, nominally but not exclusively focusing on his longform comic Freakangels.