I am working through definitions of the different types of abuses.  I saved emotional abuse for last since to me it is the beginning to all the other abuses.  Without emotional abuse the other abuses would not happen.  The first step or the beginning of abuse is to view the child as less than human.  Perhaps the parent sees the child as interfering with their life, or perhaps their view is the child is not what they wanted (example, they wanted a girl and got a boy or visa versa.)  or the child is blamed for their problems or….or….or…..the reasons children are thought of as less than are many and varied.  My mistake in life was being born a girl to parents that wanted all boys.  Dave Pelzer’s case his mother went so far as to call him “It.”  A Child Called It by Dave Pelzer.  Something less than is a target to those that consider themselves superior.

Another source of problems is the difficulty for an emotionally unstable parent to provide the stability a child needs.  As I became healthier I recognized some of the horrific mistakes I made as a parent due to how emotionally closed off and unstable I was.  I didn’t know how to teach my children about healthy emotions when I was so emotionally damaged myself.  Boundaries were an unknown entity for me so it was difficult for me to teach healthy boundaries to my children.  I feel deep regret for the many mistakes I made as a parent.

Ignorance is another source of problems and beginning of abuse for a child.  A neighbor I talked to lost their child to protective services because she didn’t know the basics of caring for child.  She didn’t know what was wrong when she fed her child when ever she felt hungry.  The basics that an infant need to eat more frequently was totally unknown to her.  Took the State taking her child to motivate her to get parenting classes.

One of the most abused phrases ever is the glib, “Well they did the best they knew how.”  Horse hockey…..ever had that little voice in your head go off and remind you that you are being a totally idiot as you yell at a child?  Or recognized that you were nicer to your neighbor than your own child?  Or that moment when you know better but you don’t do better?  Parents mess up, it is like some hidden code or glitch programed into every parent to screw up with their children.  We don’t always do the best we know how.  However, emotional abuse takes the further step to persistently and consistently demean, criticize and humiliate your own child.  It is systematic and pervasive.

As I read this definition of emotional abuse, the flaw in the language is being able to observe the change in the child.  It excludes all the children that are abused from the day they are born…so no change is observed because it is all they know.

Typical language used in these definitions is “injury to the psychological capacity or emotional stability of the child as evidenced by an observable or substantial change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition” and injury as evidenced by “anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior.

Pediatrics The infliction of ‘…coercive, demeaning, or overly distant behavior by a parent or other caretaker that interferes with a child’s normal social or psychological development…’ See Child abuse, Elderly abuse, Psychological abuse.

“Emotional abuse is the systematic diminishment of another. It may be intentional or subconscious (or both), but it is always a course of conduct, not a single event. It is designed to reduce a child’s self-concept to where the victim considers himself unworthy—unworthy of respect, unworthy of friendship, unworthy of the natural birthright of children: love and protection.” (child advocate, lawyer, and author Andrew Vachss, You Carry the Cure in Your Own Heart essay)