 Band-aids can help when you get hurt, but what of the wounds you cannot see? Emotional abuse might not be visible, but being constantly wounded emotionally wears you out, leaving scars internally. Emotional abuse can have a traumatic impact on the nervous system. Research now includes the impact from emotional abuse as CPTSD, or complex post-traumatic stress disorder, a variation of PTSD that happens because of trauma that is ongoing and where you cannot leave the situation. Here's a list of signs that you've been emotionally abused to help with early identification of abusive relationships. Number one, a kingdom of isolation. Whether it's from a partner or even parents, emotional abuse has the tendency to leave you feeling sapped. Researchers theorize the emotional abuse may contribute to the development of conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome. Living each day walking on eggshells leaves you feeling drained. Emotionally abused people withdraw to feel safe. You begin to dread social interaction of any kind. As you have little strength to answer for any conversation you had or an action you took that the abuser did not approve of, you can take the form of isolation where you don't go out or speak to anybody. It may also be to try to avoid or become invisible to the abuser in hopes that the abuse will stop. Number two, the reign of worthlessness. Emotional abuse can alter your perception. You can spend years thinking you're worthless. I'm not good enough, I don't matter. Emotional abuse leads its victims to play these thoughts on repeat. Researchers have demonstrated that emotional abuse is strongly associated with low self-esteem, more so than other forms of abuse. The insults and criticism gradually eat away at the victim's sense of self-worth. You begin to see yourself through the eyes of all those insinuations and even blame yourself for the abuse. Number three, the fortress of avoidance. Growing up in a strictly controlling environment, you struggle with being vulnerable. You learn to use secretive behavior as an escape route to avoid conflict. A study shows these individuals adopt avoidant attachment style. You were taught to disregard uncomfortable feelings and as a result, you're now quick to avoid such situations even as an adult. You avoid connection whenever possible to minimize further hurt. It's difficult for you to open up to someone. Research shows this can take a toll on your relationships as you try to brush everything under the rug instead of addressing the issues. Number four, the non-stop blame game. Is it normal for you to apologize to inanimate objects like a chair or a sofa after you accidentally bump into it? Do you blame yourself for things out of your control? Research has shown that an abuser often tries to shift all blame and guilt onto the victim, making you believe that the abuse is your fault. Add this to the supposed reinforcement of outside events, the victim comes to believe that they are the cause for everything and so automatically apologizes for anything that goes wrong even when there's no way to control or know about the situation at all. Number five, a battle of frequent outbursts. It's a hard pill to swallow when someone close to us constantly blows hot and cold, serving as a tool for intimidation. According to research, this emotional push and pull can leave you feeling rejected, confused and frustrated. You become extremely hyper-vigilant, being afraid to make even the smallest mistake. You overanalyze everything to try to minimize chances of conflict. The anxiety of keeping things in control leaves you feeling extremely wound up and so you can break down even at the slightest hint of things going south. It can also be expressed as anger instead of sadness. Although suppressed emotions of violation developed throughout abuse come out when you feel like all your efforts want to waste. And number six, conceal, don't feel. Does it seem like you're moving through the motions of life with little to no enjoyment or do you feel like you can't connect with people normally because you just don't feel like yourself? Every word that flies towards you registers as a dart on your emotions. The brain interprets emotional abuse as trauma and hence triggers mechanisms to help you cope. One such coping mechanism is emotional numbness. Studies show that people who were emotionally abused as children are more likely to experience emotional dysregulation, including emotional numbing as adults. Victims use this as an escape switch for the distressing situations faced in an emotionally abusive relationship. You learn to seal away your feelings in an attempt to protect yourself and detach from painful feelings related to the situation. It's scary to reach out for help, but it's one of the best ways to end the cycle of abuse and get your life back and you're worth it. If you found this video helpful, be sure to share it with others who might need to hear it. For more related videos, don't forget to subscribe to Psych2Go and hit the notification bell. Thanks so much for watching.