Nursing, Personal Care Attendant (PCA)

Emotional Abuse or Mental or Psychological Abuse



1: Emotional Abuse causes harm by threatening, teasing, scaring, using angry, foul language, or making demeaning or insulting statements that cause sadness, depression or general upset.

2: This type of abuse can also be non-verbal, such as shaking a fist or pointing a finger in a warning manner.

3: Emotional abuse also includes name-calling, yelling, harassing the client, threatening to punish or punishing using isolation, threatening to take away privileges, and otherwise treating the client like a child.

4: Sometimes abuse is simply a change in tone of voice. For example, if you give encouragement by gently saying, "Let's try 3 more steps today," the same words can turn abusive if you sternly or sarcastically say, "Let's try 3 more steps today."

5: Ignoring or isolating the client overlaps both emotional abuse and neglect.