As you know, abuse comes in many forms. In a relationship, there are several types of abuse.

Everyone desires a loving and healthy relationship, whether it is platonic or intimate. Healthy relationships include respect, kindness, selflessness, and many other beneficial qualities. While unhealthy relationships continue to grow worse with most of the good qualities of good unions ignored.

Sometimes it’s hard to recognize different types of abuse
Recognizing abuse and its different types requires education about each one. Often a husband or wife can go through years of abuse without knowing the truth.

In many of these situations, one partner is convinced that he is the whole problem, when in fact the fault often lies with the other. This is a malicious method that enables the attacker to continue what he is doing.

What are the different types of abuse?

1. Physical abuse
   When you hear the word abuse, what is the first thing you think of? For most people, this may be a physical assault, but not for everyone.

Physical abuse can be punching, kicking, slapping, choking, shoving, or any similar form of forced physical contact. Believe it or not, physical abuse can also be neglect or abandonment because it deals with the physical aspects.

Physical abuse can also include being restrained against your will or invading your personal space. Violence of this kind often results in severe injuries, hospitalization, or even death at worst. This is the most common form of domestic violence.

2. Verbal abuse
   This type of abuse can be loud or subtle. Verbal attacks include yelling, insults, or apparent lies. Yes, lies are verbal abuse because they are usually pathological and designed to break down your reserves. Verbal abuse is used to make you think you are crazy.

This can also be called gas lighting. If they know something to be true and have negative aspects about a liar, they’ll do whatever it takes to make you feel as if you’re fantasizing about the whole thing. This often overlaps with mental abuse.

3. Psychological abuse
   Abuse of this level can isolate the victim so badly that there are few people who believe what they are going through.

Psychological/mental abuse can also come in the form of gaslighting (making you think you’re crazy), but it can also do much more harm than tarnish your reputation. Mental abuse includes lying when the truth is right in front of your face, and it can impair your mental capacity.

Those who already struggle with mental illness can become progressively worse when dealing with mental abuse in a relationship. It is true that someone can tell you lies for so long that you yourself believe them.

This is why this kind of abuse is so harmful. It turns you against your own logic, which can be devastating. Others can turn against you and see the person who wronged you as the “good guy”.

4. Sexual abuse
   Did you know that sexual abuse can happen in a relationship? Yes, definitely. Rape can happen as well. If either partner does not wish to enter into intimate relations, but is forced to do so in some other way, this is considered rape or abuse.

While sexual abuse can be a physical act, it can also overlap with emotional and mental abuse. Using sex as a way to get what you want, to give value to your partner, or to humiliate them is also considered sexual assault.

Intimacy is designed to do many positive things, but unfortunately, it can be twisted into an outrageous form of abuse, whether married or unmarried, even into other related forms.

5. Emotional abuse
   Although it is similar to mental abuse, with some overlap, emotional abuse has more to do with feelings than thinking. With this type of abuse, the victim’s feelings are often ignored when they don’t align with how the partner feels.

Control is a big part of emotional abuse, where one partner tries to control every aspect of their partner’s life. Controlling emotional abuse can include financial control, where the partner is not allowed to work or have a bank account.

Sometimes this control develops due to past circumstances or jealousy, but it is still emotional abuse. Other forms of emotional abuse include making your partner feel worthless through insults and neglect. This includes racism, sexism, and making jokes about someone’s native language.

Most of the time, people outside of the relationship will have no idea any of this is going on until it’s acute.

6. Addiction abuse
   The reason this type of abuse is mentioned here is that it can affect more than the person who is caught. Alcoholism or drug abuse harms the User, the User’s family, and many other people who may be around the User.

In your relationship, if your partner is addicted to alcohol or drugs, or even other things, it is best to seek professional help. Addiction tends to be a very difficult type of abuse to overcome.

Acknowledging abuse in relationships

It is easy to identify the types of abusive behavior when you read the categories above. If you are experiencing physical discomfort, it could be physical or sexual abuse. If you are beginning to believe that you are worthless or are suicidal, you are likely experiencing a number of these types.

You see, all types of abuse overlap somewhere, so there may be symptoms of more than one type going on in your life.

[mahshare]