Why is it so much more acceptable to berate someone verbally than it is to do so physically?

Verbal abuse causes mental and emotional scars.

Physical abuse causes physical, mental, and emotional scars.

I guess because one punch can kill?

I don’t know.. I’d gladly take verbal abuse over a broken leg. Perhaps that’s just me. But really.. no one could answer it better than @Blondesjon just did.

@Blondesjon Great point. I didn’t think of that.

Neither is acceptable, but words cannot do physical harm whereas the threat of violence is obvious.

@Facade . . . That’s what I’m here for. . .

. . .and I do it for free.

you’re welcome

@Blondesjon ha!

I was in a verbally abusive relationship. It starts so slowly and hooks you in!!! If the man had hit me, he’d have been gone in a heartbeat but he was so nice and loving for at least 6 mos that I was “in love’. I think both are reprehensible and I think I am a strong woman but he sure got me. AND THEN HE TURNED TO MY KIDS and thus he is gone. I agree tho verbal abuse is usually excused. I am physically unhurt but..

Both are bad. I see it like this, we kind of grow up with sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. There is a subliminal type thing that goes on in our society that says we should be able to rise above mean words.

I would guess that it’s more acceptable because it’s a step in the right direction, away from violence. Verbal violence is still violence, but it’s quantifiably less. The next step is of course a reduction in verbal violence but we can only do so much at a time! :)

Everyday you hear more instances of bullying in school or cyber bullying or text bullying. When I was little my mom would tell me I have to fight my own battles, now parents hire attorneys or move to a new town. So verbal abuse must be severe and rampant.

I personally think they are both bad, depending on the circumstances though, verbal abuse can be many times worse than physical.

I wish I knew this! People on the internet usually enjoy giving verbal beatings. I think they find so much satisfaction in it because they can’t say the things they do in “real life”.

Everyone can learn the mental skill that makes people more or less immune to verbal abuse and actually feel pity for the abuser. It requires mental strength and patience. It’s much harder to build up physical self-defense skills, for example by learning martial arts. And in many cases you need to maintain your fitness to be able to use it when needed. For example very few women will reach the level to take on a strong guy 1 foot taller than themselves although it’s possible.

I agree that this is completely ludicrous. I have been through extreme physical pain and I have been in an emotionally and verbally abusive relationship. I would take the physical pain again any day over the emotional abuse. The physical pain healed and went away in a few months. The verbal and emotional abuse left scars that are still lingering and affecting my current relationships negatively years later.

On a side note, I find it absolutely appalling that a person can stand in front of another person and hurl all sorts of verbal and emotional abuse at the other person, but if the other person reacts physically to protect him or herself from this very real hurt, then that person is considered the “abuser” and may very well end up with a police record. It seems we are legally and socially expected to curb our physical reactions (and understandably so), but there are no laws in place to force us to be responsible for any verbal or emotional abuse we may cause when it has been proved again and again that emotional abuse is much more damaging than physical hurt alone.