Wouldn’t it be great if the old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me,” actually rang true? Unfortunately this is far from the truth. Proverbs 15:4 says that a ‘deceitful tongue crushes the spirit’. Physical abuse is not the only behavior that can ‘break’ someone. Relational abuse can take on many different forms. Below is a list. You may see some of these terms used interchangeably at times (e.g. psychological/mental) or separate. In addition, there is a spectrum and while the behaviors exhibited may not seem as ‘extreme’ in comparison to other examples, ANY abuse is abuse and creates a toxic relationship.
- Psychological
- Mental
- Emotional
- Verbal
- Spiritual
- Financial
- Physical
- Sexual
In upcoming articles we will describe each of these in more detail. Stay tuned!