Why emotional abuse is often ignored

Devika Mathur, 30, was seemingly happy with her soulmate, who was everything she ever wanted. Netflix's 'Maid', based on writer Stephanie Land's memoir of her attempt to escape an emotionally abusive relationship and poverty, for instance, does a great job of chronicling the complexity of emotional abuse. Samriti Makkar Midha, a Mumbai- based clinical psychologist, elaborates on this aspect by saying, "A single event of berating, insulting, screaming wouldn't qualify as emotional abuse. ● Public embarrassment: picking fights, exposing secrets in front of known or unknown people; ● Derogatory pet names: "my chubby pumpkin", "Mera/meri kaddu", "motu" ● Dismissive Attitude: Your problems are never important enough or "you need to really relax and chill" attitude towards the victim ● Sarcasm: A subtle sense of taking a dig at you, aimed at hurting you ● Mood swings and being erratic: Emotionally abusive partners tend to have erratic moods- tempers that may flare seemingly out of nowhere; they could be showering you with gifts one moment and yelling at you the next. "In an emotional cycle of abuse, self-awareness plays an important role both from the perpetrator's and victim's end.