PSYCHOLOGICALLY ABUSED WOMEN: PROFILE AND SYMPTOMS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The women psychologically abused often show a series of signals that can be detected for a professional or social services take the necessary measures. These signs can help you know if you are suffering from any type of abuse from your partner.

Battered women can suffer the symptoms of post-traumatic stress syndrome, which can occur with both physical and psychological violence. Although there are no marks on the body that indicate that a woman is being abused, there are symptoms or behaviors that show that these women are suffering some type of psychological abuse.

Another aspect to take into account is that psychological abuse not only occurs in relationships, but also in friendship or in other areas such as work. However, although in this article I am going to focus on the psychological abuse against women in heterosexual relationships, there are features that are repeated in other circumstances where manipulation occurs.

11 traits of women who are psychologically abused by their partners

1- They have low self-esteem

Woman with low self-esteem looks at herself in the mirror. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay

People who suffer some type of abuse, usually have a situation of low self-esteem. It is one of the clearest signs that there may be some kind of psychological abuse in the relationship.

The abuser uses his partner's self-love to his advantage, establishes a dynamic of control and abuse, either through insults, contempt or other manipulation techniques, which make the woman increasingly underestimate. For example, gaslighting.

By making them believe that they are superior to them, they create a bond of dependency. The less self-esteem, the less capable they are of leaving that relationship.

A 1999 investigation by Sackett and Saunders published in Violence and Victims, recognizes that both physical and psychological abuse contribute to low self-esteem or even depression.

2- They blame themselves

Self-blame can be destructive. Image by Ryan McGuire from Pixabay

Manipulation and the low self-esteem derived from it, contribute to abused women feeling guilty for the actions or the way of behaving that the abuser has.

They tend to justify their actions in front of others, even if that person's behavior is clearly despicable and unjustifiable. Guilt is common in victims of some kind of violence.

A study by Barnett and Martinez (1996) published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence shows that women who have suffered some type of abuse experience a greater sense of guilt than those who have not suffered any type of violence.

Another article by Cascardi and O'Leary published in the 1992 Journal of Family Violence affirms that blaming themselves is one of the symptoms of depression.

3- They manifest a sad state of mind

Sadness is one of the most visible signs in a battered woman. Image by Armando Orozco from Pixabay

Psychological violence can generate depression for the person who suffers from it, either while that situation of abuse remains or afterwards.

Several studies have confirmed that depression is one of the most common effects in women who have suffered abuse.

4- In their relationship with others, they tend to be suspicious

When a woman is distrustful of family members, colleagues or close friends, it can be a sign that she is suffering abuse.

Mistrust and insecurity can denote that this woman is suffering some type of abuse, whether psychic or physical.

Fear plays a fundamental role in situations of abuse. Women who are psychologically abused fear reprisals that their partner may have with them if they do not act as she would like.

In addition, one of the most common manipulation techniques to control the victim is the isolation of this. The abused person feels more and more alone and dependent on her abuser. Therefore, she also thinks that no one can help her.

5- They are afraid of the reactions of their partners

Woman afraid of how her partner might react. Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

The mistrust of which I speak in the previous section has to do with something very common in women who suffer psychological abuse from their partners, fear.

They believe that if they manage to behave as the abusers want, something practically impossible, they will ensure that they do not recriminate their actions, they do not belittle or insult them. To do this, they try to please them or do their best to avoid conflict.

For example, if your partner gets angry or insults you because you go out with your friends, the woman who suffers from this manipulation will stop going out with her friends rather than face or abandon this situation.

6- They are submissive to their partners

Woman in submissive position. Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

That fear, as I have said before, leads them to behave as their abusers want.

They use all their actions to please them and to grant them the demands that they demand at all times. Most women who suffer abuse believe that by adapting to their partners, they will be able to end the conflict and create a situation of peace and finally be happy.

However, this submission further affects their low self-esteem, degenerating into a state of depression. By becoming submissive, they stop behaving as they are. They transform into another person, abandoning the personality they had before starting to suffer that psychological abuse.

Valerie Nash Chang in her book I Just Lost Myself: Psychological Abuse of Women in Marriage, collects the testimonies of several women who suffered abuse by their partners during marriage. There is one that particularly catches my attention and that perfectly explains this behavior. It's the following snippet:

7- They hide information from their family and friends

Another of the signs that can be observed in women who suffer some type of psychological abuse is the information they tell about their relationship.

Sometimes those who are being abused psychologically do not tell about everything that happens to them. This can be for several reasons:

- They fear that their partner will find out what they have been talking about and will retaliate against them.

- They do not trust those around them, they believe that those who listen to them may think they are crazy or even tell their abuser.

- Another reason why they do not count all the details of what they live can be shame.

7- They are ashamed of themselves

This trait is closely related to the feeling of guilt.

Women who have suffered violence from their partners may come to feel responsible for allowing such abuse. Something that makes them feel ashamed of themselves.

Carol A. Lambert in her book Women with Controlling Partners: Taking Back Your Life from a Manipulative or Abusive Partner, collects some of the characteristics of women who are recovering from some type of abuse by their partners. Among them is the feeling of shame.

A response that the author qualifies as normal when some type of harm is suffered, but that is overcome when it is understood that the only person responsible for the abuse is the abuser.

8- They are unsure of their actions

Shame, fear, and distrust cause these women to behave insecurely. They are afraid of the consequences of their words or actions.

This insecurity also manifests itself through non-verbal communication. For example, if they look down while they are talking, they lower their tone of voice or they are fleeting or wanting to end the conversation.

9- They are reluctant

Psychologically abused women are gradually being abandoned. They become so focused on pleasing the abuser that they forget about themselves.

They do not usually groom themselves physically, on many occasions because they do not feel beautiful with anything. Steven Stony points out in a PsychologyToday article some examples of manipulation that can affect this reluctance, closely related to the loss of self-esteem. For example, abusers may say phrases like "don't spend a lot on clothes, nothing suits you."

They hardly ever feel like doing different things, like going out for a drink with a group of friends.

10- They are always alert

The fear of their abusers makes them remain in a state of constant vigilance. They come to think that their abusers are controlling them at all times, so they tend to flee from situations that they know they dislike.

This state of alert has to do with the manipulation exercised by the abusers, for example, through the telephone, keeping them located at all hours and reacting furiously if they are unable to contact them.

11- They tend to be stressed and tired

This situation of being constantly alert, along with other factors such as fear or measuring all actions to prevent your partner from getting angry, generates stress and anxiety.

They can suffer from insomnia problems as a result of this excessive worry, which affects other physical symptoms such as fatigue and general malaise.

References

1. Barnett, O., Martinez, T. & Keyson, M.. (1996, June 1). The Relationship Between Violence, Social Support, and Self-Blame in Battered Women. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 11, 221-233.
2. Cascardi, M. & O'Leary, KD Depressive symptomatology, self-esteem, and self-blame in battered women. Journal of Family Violence (1992) 7: 249. doi: 10.1007 / BF00994617
3. Lambert, C.. (2016). Women with Controlling Partners: Taking Back Your Life from a Manipulative or Abusive Partner. Oakland: New Harbingers Publication, Inc.
4. Nash, V. (1996). I Just Lost Myself: Psychological Abuse of Women in Marriage. Westport, Connecticut, London. Greenwood Publishing Group.
5. Miller, DT, & Porter, CA (1983). Self-Blame in Victims of Violence. Journal of Social Issues, 39 (2), 139-152. doi: 10.1111 / j.1540-4560.1983.tb00145.x
6. Office on Women's Health, US Department of Health and Human Services
7. Sackett, L. & Saunders, D.. (1999). The Impact of Different Forms of Psychological Abuse on Battered Women. Violence and victims, 14, 105-117.