Is Your Significant Other Cheating On You?

How Can You Be Certain You Are Not A Victim of Emotional Abuse?

Answer the following questions:
1. Has there been a change in his/her routine or does your significant other take longer than usual in coming back home from work, errands, or activities?

2. Is it obvious he/she is hiding something from you?

3. Does he/she dodge certain questions, give answers which absolutely could not be true, or contradict previous statements? (More help on the subject of this question can be found in THIS ARTICLE).

4. Has there been a decline or increase in sex? Is sex different with him/her than in the past?

5. Do you now seem unimportant to him/her?

6. Is there something you know is happening that you just cannot put a finger on? Trust your gut instincts. They are usually correct.

If you answered "yes" to 2 or more of these questions, and there is nothing else that the differences or actions in question can instead be related to, be certain you are not experiencing emotional abuse.

The Gaslight, George Cukor, Director, 1944 (Remake of the 1940 British film). Copyright: MGM

Gaslighting:

The Extremes of Emotional Abuse
by Jeanne Sparks-Carreker

**Author's Note: This article illustrated emotional abuse from the standpoint of a woman being the victim, due to the fact that this was based on a true story; any preference to genders is not meant to be offensive or stereotypical in any manner.

There is a type of pain a woman experiences when, after years of faithful marriage, she begins to witness changes in her husband that, when confronted, are then said to be the creation of the wife's imagination, a plot to hide her own actions, or the perception of a woman in need of psychiatric help. To describe the pain endured by victims of emotional abuse with written words is like trying to explain what a person experiences when facing the realization of certain, impending death. It seems quite impossible. There are rips, tears, stabs and agonizing pain within her heart. Sometimes she panics, believing she is losing her soul mate forever. Sometimes her husband may actually tell her that the suspicion, the digging around for answers, or the accusations involved in the panic are the actual things causing the couple to have distance in the first place.

If a man does this, he is using a manipulative, cruel technique known as Gaslighting. Emotional abusers who partake in the horrific methods of Gaslighting have an agenda of which society may presently be unaware.

The term "Gaslighting" was introduced to the public in an old movie entitled "The Gas Light" (1940) and its remake of the same title (1944). In these movies, a woman who receives a large inheritance is courted by and marries a man who has a secret agenda. He intends to drive her crazy in order to obtain the hefty estate she has. "Gaslighting" is so called due to the story unfolding with the husband routinely igniting the gas lamps in the loft of the house, which causes the other lamps in the house to dim. Upon question from the wife as to why the lamps were dimming, the good husband would tell her she was imagining things. In the movie, it is obvious the man knew he was driving his wife insane. Sometimes, however, this is not the case where intention is concerned. Some emotional abusers do not realize they are Gaslighting.

Entire Article Here

Effects of Emotional Abuse- No You're Not Crazy!

Verbal and Emotional Abuse: How to Break the Cycle

Are You a Victim of Abuse? Determining If You Are a Victim

The Ticking Time Bomb:

. Known in the community as "the Ticking Time-Bomb," the 48 year old machinist has lived a life that many people in this town refer to as "just plain sad."



After handing me a mug of hot coffee, he explains, "Well, Nora was watching a talk-show the other day about the cycle of abuse through generations. What they kept repeating was the notion that if a kid is abused, they will become an abuser. There were stories backing up the claim. The guest speakers made it sound like once a child is mistreated, they're doomed to abuse their own one day."

Being familiar with the history of the Ticking Time-Bomb, I smile, knowing where this interview is going now, and happy to witness Tim finally speaking out against public scrutiny. I ask, "So, you wish to challenge their statements?"

"You bet I do."

Entire Article Here

Advocacy for Abuse: A Mandated Reporter's Procedure

by Lain
for Associated Content
August 7, 2006

In all fifty states there are procedures and statutes that a mandated reporter must follow in order to report child abuse. These are mandatory, and mandated reporters are legally bound to report any suspected child abuse to the proper authorities using the statues and procedures of their state and district. Below are the procedures for California, and such reasonable suspicions are listed in penal code 11165.6 of California law. These include physical harm done to the child by means which are not accidental, sexual abuse, neglect as stated by related penal code, willful cruelty or unjustifiable punishment, unlawful corporal punishment, or abuse or neglect of a child in out-of-home care.

Entire Article Here

When the System Abuses

Scandal Within the Alabama Department of Youth Services

CAUTION: DISTURBING CONTENT

There had been rumors for years in the small town about the Chalkville Youth Campus and its bad girls court-ordered to stay there. It is a place for the misguided, the criminal, and the captured runaways who were underage girls placed in the state's care. The sprawling campus sits off the main road, behind a stone entryway, upon which is mounted a sign that clearly forbids access to the area unless having been granted permission beforehand.

Many a disobedient girl has been stirred to obey parents when told, "I'll put you in the girl's school if you don't straighten up!" The pictures that then pierced the mind entailed scenes of clanging cell doors, guards bearing rings of keys, and the long road back to the campus, darkened by the overhanging limbs of huge, Alabama oak trees. To a young girl, the large main building is mysterious and looms tall against a blue, southern sky, bearing likeness to an old, ominous castle hiding many years of secrets.