When we are victims of psychological violence, we must deal with words or gestures intended to injure and destabilize us. In this way, the violent person will be able to control us in order to maintain his need for superiority. However, this kind of psychological violence generates real anxiety disorders and non-negligible health problems. Explanations.
Illustrating in the form of humiliations, threats, prohibitions, violent acts, hurtful words ... psychological violence affects any person, without making distinctions of age, race or gender. Moreover, it makes victims in all areas including family, relationship, professional. However, being exposed to psychological violence causes physical and psychological problems, including anxiety disorders.
The different anxiety disorders
Anxiety disorders are classified into several categories, namely: generalized anxiety disorder, specific phobias, panic attacks, panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, social phobia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Note that according to the Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned American healthcare facility, the most common anxiety disorders are:
Agoraphobia, that is to say the fear of being in a place (large spaces, cars, restaurants, floors) where it would be difficult to be rescued, to ask for help or to escape.
Panic disorder with a medical cause is illustrated by having panic attacks related to a physical problem or illness.
Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by being constantly worried, without this state of anxiety being controllable.
Selective mutism is the feeling of an inability to speak in particular situations, whereas language learning is acquired and mastered in normal times.
Separation anxiety disorder, the excessive worry of being separated from a loved one or relative.
The social anxiety disorder, or social phobia, corresponds to the excessive fear of the relation to the other (look at the other, judgment, criticism, rejection).
Generally, these anxiety disorders develop as a result of psychological violence.
The link between anxiety disorders and psychological violence
In fact, according to a study by Muhammad Gadit, working in the Department of Psychiatry at Memorial University of Newfoundland (Canada), about verbal abuse and the developmental impact of mental disorders, children and adults confronted with verbal abuse whose criticism, disparagement, blame, insult, humiliation or mockery suffer more from language disorders, anxiety, depression, aggressive and self-destructive behaviors, including drug use. Similarly, at the anatomical level, brain lesions are visible.
According to a study by Aisling Chaney of the Department of Radiology at Trinity College (Dublin) and in partnership with the Department of Psychiatry at the same University, child abuse affects brain structure in adulthood. Thus, patients with major depressive disorder have a lower gray matter volume in the hippocampus but it is increased in the prefrontal cortex and orbitofrontal, unlike people who have not experienced any emotional or physical trauma. To note that :
- Gray matter contains the cell bodies of neurons
- The hippocampus is part of the brain and plays a role for memory and passing information in the short term
- The prefrontal cortex is at the front of the brain and is involved in emotions and mood disorders
- The orbitofrontal cortex is also at the front of the brain but is involved in decision making, the reward system and emotional reactions.
As a result, psychological and physical abuse during childhood affects brain development, which increases the risk of suffering from anxiety disorders including major depression in adulthood.
It goes without saying that from a psychological and physical point of view, psychological violence is closely linked to the development of anxiety disorders. Thus, it is essential to guard against these attacks by becoming aware of their various and current forms, by maintaining healthy relationships and especially by asking for help as soon as possible in order to break the cycle of psychological violence. that is, by not reproducing behaviors that allow the other to abuse us.