Emotional / Verbal Abuse
Kansas City Elder Emotional Abuse Attorneys
Legal Action After Emotional or Verbal Abuse in Nursing Homes
Elder abuse in nursing homes does not always involve physical injuries and violence. In fact, most cases of elder abuse involve nonphysical harm that can be just as devastating, such as emotional and verbal abuse.
Has your elderly loved one been emotionally or verbally abused in a Kansas City nursing home? Let Law Office of Tom Wagstaff Jr., LLC know. Our attorneys have built our reputation across many years of practice focused on nursing home abuse cases, claims, and lawsuits. Let us fight for compensation and justice in your name and for your family.
We help clients in Kansas and Missouri. Call 816-708-0524 to get a free, confidential consultation.
What Is Emotional Abuse in a Nursing Home?
Emotional abuse is a specific type of elder abuse that involves harming or manipulating the emotions of an elderly nursing home resident. Typically, emotional abuse is carried out by nursing home staff members like caretakers or orderlies, but members of management, administrators, vendors, and visiting family members can also cause emotional abuse. Emotional abuse can take many forms but often involves intentionally rousing anger, belittling or humiliating, invalidating emotions, and prohibiting emotional responses to situations.
It is important to recognize that emotional abuse can be just as harmful – or even more harmful – than physical abuse, especially the longer it goes on. Elderly people who have been emotionally abused may fall into depression or succumb to severe anxiety as they start to doubt themselves or pull away from friends and family. As day-to-day well-being declines from emotional abuse, the need for legal intervention increases.
What Is Verbal Abuse in a Nursing Home?
Verbal abuse occurs when verbal or spoken words are used to emotionally abuse or manipulate a senior in a nursing home. Perhaps ironically, verbal abuse can also occur as written words, such as handing a nursing home resident menacing notes or letters. As with emotional abuse, the purpose of verbal abuse is to intentionally harm or coerce an elderly person, usually someone who has little communication with family who could intervene.
Verbal abuse might include:
- Shouting or yelling
- Threatening
- Humiliating or shaming
- Mocking a resident’s disabilities
- Insulting
- Ridiculing
What Is Mental Abuse in a Nursing Home?
Similar to emotional abuse in that it doesn’t involve physical violence, mental abuse attempts to harm or worsen an elderly resident’s mental health or mental state of mind. Rather than targeting or manipulating emotions, a mental abuser tries to change the elderly resident’s perception or thought processes. Usually, mental abuse aims to confuse or mislead the resident to the point that they feel like they need to rely on the abuser for information and decisions, as well as how they should react to situations.
Mental abuse in a nursing home might include:
- Gaslighting
- Causing social isolation
- Lying or intentionally manipulating
- Inciting confusion or fear
What Are the Warning Signs of Emotional & Verbal Abuse?
Are you worried that your elderly loved one in a nursing home has been subjected to emotional or verbal abuse? Abusers try to keep their misdeeds subtle, and the purpose of mental abuse is to be manipulative, so your elderly loved one might not know to tell you about it or ask for help. Therefore, you might have to look for the warning signs of these specific types of elder abuse yourself and then take action if you notice anything is wrong.
Signs that an elderly nursing home resident has been emotionally abused are:
- Uncharacteristic mood swings
- Unusual or fearful behavior around a certain person
- Symptoms of depression or anxiety
- Disinterest in any social activities
Call Today to Discuss the Next Steps
Don’t wait to get legal help if you think your elderly loved one has been emotionally abused in a nursing home in Kansas City, Kansas, or Missouri. Reach out to the Law Office of Tom Wagstaff Jr., LLC and talk with our elder abuse attorneys right away. We would be honored to share our insight about your options and represent you in any legal action you decide to take to seek justice and compensation for your family.
Dial 816-708-0524 or use an online contact form to get more information from our attorneys.