What is Verbal Assault? Main types, signals, how to react and more!

Each human being has their own personality, their way of acting, which can be both positive and negative, their way of interpreting information and communicating. When there are failures in communication and understanding of what is being passed, it tends to become a big problem.

A simple conversation can turn into an argument and an argument can turn into verbal aggression when there are negative emotions being brought into the conversation, such as anger. In addition to intense feelings, verbal abuse is present in a conversation when it crosses the limit of what is healthy.

Verbal aggression is used when a person cannot impose their opinions on the other, when they are not being heard and need to go for a more violent attitude so that the individual agrees with what is being aggressive. There are other reasons to get to this point, find out what they are by reading this article!

Verbal aggression is present in the daily lives of many people, especially those who live in an abusive relationship, which can be romantic or not. Understand what aggression or verbal violence is and how to identify it in the following topics.

Aggression or verbal violence is nothing more than an aggressive behavior, used to belittle the victim, diminish or manipulate her, in order to make her dependent. Verbal aggression is often practiced to feel power and to feel important in relationships, which can be considered a crime.

However, there are also situations in which this happens because the individual does not have a filter or emotional control, becoming rude or violent in moments of anger, without being aware of the consequences of these acts. With the accumulation of small arguments and fights, the tendency is to evolve into physical aggression.

It is possible to identify a verbal aggression through certain attitudes and almost imperceptible signs of the person. In addition, it is necessary to understand that verbal abuse goes beyond insults, it can be disguised as kind words, for example, when saying that women are fragile, the objective of minimizing the partner or friend is hidden.

The victim may question their own abilities, doubt their own thoughts or perceptions, begin to act more passively, may hide thoughts or ideas to avoid emotional distress, self-esteem is drastically reduced, mental health is impaired, they nullify themselves and their Arguments can escalate into physical aggression.

Other signs that indicate a verbal aggression are that the arguments or discussions are always irrelevant, any conversation becomes a fight and can go into an attack, the aggressor tries to impose himself and does not accept other points of view, feeling of exhaustion when interacting with the individual , in addition to being interrupted all the time when trying to express his opinion.

A form of aggression or silent verbal abuse is gaslighting, a type of psychological abuse in which the aggressor distorts information, not matching reality. This practice is very common in abusive relationships where the partner is seen as crazy and few people are able to understand this manipulation.

The aggressor denies any fact that the victim says, withholds information or distorts it, manipulating situations and causing the victim to start doubting himself. All this so that the abuser makes these situations favorable for himself and the harmed person assumes all the blame.

The way the aggressor expresses himself, the gestures he makes and the tone of voice when he speaks also signals a verbal aggression, even if he does not realize that it is so. When he is being manipulative or trying to intimidate another person, especially in romantic relationships, he does not necessarily use aggressive or rude words to manipulate the victim.

Indirect and silent verbal aggression is the most dangerous, as it is the most difficult to be perceived thanks to words and lines disguised as kindness. To deal with this, you must be very careful when approaching the problem with the person and maintain a frank conversation, pointing out the attitudes that hurt, as the person may not know that he is being an aggressor.

When relating to anyone, be it a love partner, a friend, a co-worker or a boss, one must be careful that the conversation does not reach the point of physical aggression or more intense psychological abuse. Find out below how a conversation evolves into aggression and what to do if you are a victim.

It’s normal for any kind of relationship to go through bad days, to have disagreements, different beliefs and a misunderstanding or discussion to happen. After the misunderstanding, interaction between people goes back to the way it was before, with respect and understanding.

However, the conversation becomes problematic when there is a lot of friction and discussions constantly due to emotions on the surface, without having a filter to prevent heavier words from being uttered. Neither person listens to the other, one wants to speak louder than the other and has no intention of understanding the other’s point of view or opinion.

The problem is when the discussion is constant in the relationship, with many frictions, accusations, humiliations, threats, impositions and attempts to silence and control the other. There is no more respect or trust, aggression and humiliation increase, everyone wants to be right even if it is necessary to resort to more violent attitudes.

It must be remembered that the aggressor is also a manipulator, he can justify himself and apologize, being a discreet form of manipulation to transfer his guilt to the victim. When the aggressor gains the victim’s intimacy, the abuse begins to become more evident, while at the beginning of the relationship the signs are subtle.

The consequences of verbal aggression can become a lifelong problem, and can be both psychological and emotional or even physical disorders, if verbal abuse evolves into physical aggression. The damage and suffering can lead the victim into severe depression or even death.

It may take years for a victim of verbal abuse to recognize that a situation they have experienced or are still experiencing is abusive. Many remain silent because they are afraid to face the aggressor, to ask for help and he commits some kind of crime or to wear himself out emotionally more than he already does.

Aggression and verbal abuse also come from strangers on social media, further increasing the chances of the person having their self-esteem and mental health damaged. Aggressors can also abuse their victims by controlling their networks, with many separations occurring because of these attitudes.

The first step is to identify whether you are being the victim of verbal aggression and then seek help from psychologists or other psychotherapy professionals to prevent these aggressions from continuing to be perpetuated. The second step is not to allow yourself to be abused, not to play the abuser’s manipulation game, and not to allow disrespect.

Be sure to consult with a trusted psychologist, because with his help and guidance, the process of getting rid of this situation will go more smoothly. Although verbal assaults and abuse are harmful for everyone, remember that some people don’t realize they are committing these acts.

There are some ways to react to verbal abuse so that more violent attitudes can be avoided, however, don’t hesitate to ask for help if necessary. See the following topics on how to react to verbal aggression.

Never retaliate against aggression and verbal violence that you suffer, much less aggressively, on the same level as the aggressor. This reaction makes the situation worse, tension builds and the individual feels challenged or confronted, further increasing abuse and rude words.

In addition, discussions and verbal abuse can evolve into physical aggression, making the situation even more worrying. React in an empowered and peaceful way, with good arguments and avoiding falling for their manipulations.

When you realize that the person is arguing aggressively, hold your emotions by taking a deep breath to calm down, because when acting with a “hot head”, words are said without a filter and there is no time to think of a different way of acting, causing more problems and regrets afterwards.

When the aggressor realizes the other person is not caring or behaving as expected, escalating the argument, becomes frustrated and may give up on continuing the argument. If possible, move away from the individual, let him talk to himself and talk about his actions when he is calmer at another time.

In any healthy conversation, it is essential to show the other person what he is doing wrong, that such an attitude is bothering him or that the dialogue was in an aggressive tone. Give the idea of ​​resolving this inconvenience in a more peaceful way and that the aggressor becomes aware of not committing more verbal abuse.

Avoiding talking to the person about the harm they are doing to themselves, and probably to others, makes this individual think that everything is fine. Keeping your grievances and pouring them out in a discussion that can no longer hide the pain diminishes your credibility and can break up a relationship that could have taken a different course.

The conversation has to take place in a calm way, showing respect and empathy, rather than pointing fingers and accusing the person. Show how aggressive you were or are being, if you continue with the same attitudes, the best solution is to start moving away and end the relationship if possible.

Dealing with an aggressive person is not easy, however, it is possible to disperse aggression by focusing more on recognizing ideas and opinions that make some sense. Thus, the aggressor tends to reduce the discussion and rudeness, opening up what is being said.

It is not necessary to agree with what the bully is saying, just to show that your opinions, being different, are being noticed and taken into account. So, the conversation is more likely to turn into a healthier dialogue and show that you don’t have to use violence to get somewhere.

It is possible to give space, spend time away so that the aggressor has time to think about his attitudes, however, there are situations in which it is necessary to exclude the person from life, but it will not be possible to do this with everyone. So, most of the time, the best thing is…