Psychological mistreatment

Attitudes, words, gestures or absence of appropriate actions that negatively affect an individual’s psychological well-being or integrity

Violence: Emotional blackmail, manipulation, humiliation, insults, infantilization, belittlement, verbal and non-verbal threats, disempowerment, excessive monitoring of activities, comments that are xenophobic, ableist, sexist, homophobic, biphobic or transphobic, etc.

Neglect: Rejection, indifference, social isolation, disinterest, insensitivity, etc.

Signs: Fear, anxiety, depression, withdrawal, reluctance to speak openly, mistrust, fearful interaction with one or several people, rapid decline of cognitive abilities, suicidal ideation, attempted suicide, suicide, etc.

NB: Psychological mistreatment is the most common and least apparent type of mistreatment:

• It often accompanies other types of mistreatment.
• Its effects can be just as detrimental as those of other types of mistreatment.