Psychiatrist Martin Teicher has found evidence that verbal abuse can be as hard on a child’s mental health as physical abuse at home or sexual abuse outside the home. Staff photo Kris Snibbe/Harvard News Office |
Verbal beatings hurt as much as sexual abuseCan lead to depression, anxiety, and worseApril 26, 2007By William J. Cromie
Sticks and stones may break my bones, But names will never hurt me. … That often repeated children’s rhyme is wrong, according to Harvard University psychiatrists. Scolding, swearing, yelling, blaming, insulting, threatening, ridiculing, demeaning, and criticizing can be as harmful as physical abuse, sexual abuse outside the home, or witnessing physical abuse at home, notes a report in the April issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. |
