Why abuse is wrong

According to the Canadian Department of Justice, abuse is behavior used to intimidate, isolate, dominate or control another person. It may be a pattern of behavior, or it may be a single incident. Abusive behavior might involve acts or words or even neglect. Abuse happens when someone hurts or mistreats you. Abuse can happen to anyone: someone in a family or someone in a dating relationship, a spouse or former spouse, a partner in an intimate relationship or former partner, a child, a young person, or an older person. The abuse can be physical, sexual, emotional, psychological, or financial. You may experience more than one type of abuse. No one has the right to abuse you because abuse is wrong.

According to healhychildren.org, in most cases, children who are abused or neglected suffer both mentally and physically. Emotional and psychological abuse and neglect deny the child the tools needed to cope with stress and learn new skills to become resilient, strong, and successful. So a child who is maltreated or neglected may have a wide range of reactions and may even become depressed or develop suicidal ideation, withdraw, or engage in violent behavior. Abuse or neglect may stunt the physical development of the child’s brain and lead to psychological problems, such as low self-esteem, which could later lead to high-risk behaviors, such as substance use. As the survivor gets older, he may use drugs or alcohol, may try to run away, refuse discipline, or abuse others. As an adult, he may develop marital and sexual difficulties, depression, or suicidal behavior.  These long-term effects are clear reasons why abuse is wrong.

According to childwelfare.org, child abuse and neglect also have been associated with certain regions of the brain failing to form, function, or grow properly. For example, a history of maltreatment may be correlated with reduced volume in overall brain size and may affect several brain regions' size and/or functioning.  Some of these affected brain regions include the amygdala, which is key to processing emotions; the hippocampus, which is central to learning and memory, the orbitofrontal cortex, which is responsible for reinforcement-based decision-making and emotion regulation; the cerebellum, which helps coordinate motor behavior and executive functioning, and the corpus callosum, which is responsible for left brain/right brain communication and other processes (e.g., arousal, emotion, higher cognitive abilities).

You may be facing special challenges, but you have choices no matter what kind of situation you are in. You are not alone, and help is available. Would you please reach out to a trusted adult, therapist, or law enforcement?