While your spouse may not hit you physically, she or he may strike you verbally and cause psychological bruises and breaks. Here at Griffin Law, PLLC, we feel it is important that our North Carolina clients consider emotional abuse when deciding whether to continue with their marriage.
Abuse that takes place on an emotional level can be hard to spot. Psychology Today offers insight on some of the subtle indications that you could be in an emotionally abusive marriage.
Arguing about your opinions
Do you feel like you unintentionally start an argument every time you say something to your spouse? Emotional abuse can manifest in the form of feeling as if your every opinion, comment and shared thought incurs a verbal rebuke.
Feeling as if your emotions do not matter
Besides arguing against everything you have to say, an emotionally abusive spouse may make you feel as if your emotions are not relevant. Maybe you feel like your concerns are trivial matters, or perhaps your spouse makes you feel as if your emotional responses are not normal.
Interrupting you
Emotional abuse also takes the form of interrupting you when you speak or undermining what you say. You may question yourself every time you want to speak to your spouse, or your spouse may not give you the chance to finish your own sentences.
Denying past abuse
Your partner could deny past conversations or transgressions against you. Affection may become a weapon to make you feel like you are being irrational.
You do not have to feel trapped in an emotionally abusive marriage. For more information on this subject, please visit our page on domestic abuse.