Emotional Abuse in Nursing Homes

Despite what the brochures and pamphlets say, nursing homes are not all about sipping lemonade and playing shuffleboard. In fact, there are a lot of serious issues to contend with to make a nursing home run.

Nurses and administrators of homes need to be mindful at all times of the unique needs of all of their patients. They need to do their best to make sure everyone is happy, properly medicated, and satisfied with the facility. As you might imagine, this can be difficult with sometimes ornery patients and even more ornery families.

Therein lies one of the more subtle causes of nursing home abuse - the emotional mistreatment of patients. It's can become evident when a nurse or practitioner falls out of line and starts hitting or abusing a patient. But what about emotional abuse? How can we tell if our elderly loved ones are actually being abused or just deciding to be (for lack of a better term) "grouchy"?

The truth is there is no exact line. Emotional abuse works in nuance and it is the duty of the family to pay close attention to changes in their loved ones. It also helps to be properly educated regarding what kinds of emotional abuse can happen and what the symptoms can be. Finally, it's critical that the family know when and how to pursue legal recourse should they think it necessary.

Types of Emotional Abuse:

It's tough to understand emotional abuse without giving some categories and descriptions. The following are not prescriptive or all inclusive, but mainly to help you in identifying potential problems.

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  Verbal Harassment. This constitutes a stream of insults, put downs, and slights. The patient is made to feel like a lesser person and can be made hyper-aware of their age and illnesses.


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  Threat of Punishment. Sometimes physical abuse is never reported because it is never needed. The nurse or practitioner could simply threaten, yell, and scare the patient into compliance.


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  Humiliation. Humiliation comes in many varieties, both public and private.


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  Deprivation. Deprivation blurs the line between physical and emotional abuse. Much less physically obvious, deprivation can be  withholding of medication, food, water, or even attention.


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  Abandonment. Successful living in a retirement home is more than just satisfying base needs. Mature adults require interaction and a feeling of fulfillment. Abandonment is an utter lack for these concerns.


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  Intimidation. Much like verbal harassment, intimidation is the use of coercion and threats to gain compliance.

Signs of Emotional Abuse:

Part of figuring out if abuse is occurring is paying attention to certain signs and symptoms. Consider the following:

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  Direct Reports of Abuse. First, and most obviously, is direct reports of abuse from your loved one. Whether they make the complaint to the home administrators or directly you, this is the best way to get a sense of what's happening. Unfortunately, due to physical/mental handicaps or just 'not wanting to make a fuss', direct reports or much less prevalent than one might think.


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  Emotional Withdrawal/Non-communicative. If your loved one is normally openly communicative and you see a sharp drop in that, it could be because they are having problems they don't want to burden you with.


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  Self Abuse or Deprecation. Some individuals begin to internalize the abuse and believe it. Watch for drastic  changes in levels of self confidence.


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  Emotional Sensitivity. When abuse is occurring, there is often an increase in agitation and suspicion. Be especially aware of this if your loved one has a naturally positive demeanor.


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  Unusual Changes in Personality. Adjusting to different surroundings can be difficult, but they shouldn't result in drastic personality changes.

Legal Recourse
It's important for people to know that criminal statutes exist for nursing home abuse. Often there are particular regulations in place regarding emotional abuse specifically. You should never feel like emotional abuse is simply something 'made up' or without precedent.

To figure out if you have legal recourse for emotional abuse in a nursing home, first do your best to assess the situation. Don't jump to unsubstantiated conclusions and understand the complexities of home living. But if you believe there is definite trouble, find and contact a specialist attorney in your area. With intangible factors such as emotion and mental state, it's critical to have representation who knows how to handle those factors.