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Wednesday, August 21, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Verbal, emotional attacks are elder abuse
By Betsy Leighty-Johnson
Colulmnist
This is part of a series
on elder abuse awareness,
intended to raise community
awareness and to provide
resources for individuals
who are themselves vulner-
able or are caregivers, fam-
ily or friends of vulnerable
people.
The Oregon Department
of Human Services (DHS)
has Adult Protective Service
(APS) offices statewide
to coordinate and conduct
abuse investigations and pro-
vide services to reports of
neglect and abuse of vulner-
able adults, including: adults
over the age of 65, adults
with physical and/or devel-
opmental disabilities, adults
with mental illness, and chil-
dren receiving residential
treatment services.
Verbal or emotional abuse
is the second leading type of
elder abuse in Oregon, rep-
resenting 26 percent of all
substantiated cases in 2017.
Verbal/emotional abuse often
coexists with other types of
abuse, including financial
exploitation and physical
abuse cases.
DHS9 web page provides
definitions and warning signs
for the abuse of vulnerable
adults. Verbal or emotional
abuse includes threatening
significant physical harm or
threatening or causing sig-
nificant emotional harm to
an adult through the use of:
derogatory or inappropri-
ate names, insults, verbal
assaults, profanity, or ridi-
cule; or harassment, coer-
cion, threats, intimidation,
humiliation, mental cru-
elty, or inappropriate sexual
comments.
Some of the warning
signs of verbal or emotional
abuse include:
" Humiliating, insult-
ing, or threatening language
directed at the person.
" Being emotionally upset
or agitated.
" Being extremely with-
drawn and non-communica-
tive or non-responsive.
" Unusual behavior usu-
ally attributed to demen-
tia (e.g., sucking, biting,
rocking).
" An adult9s report of
being verbally or emotion-
ally mistreated.
Verbal and emotional
abuse often takes the form
of bullying and threats if the
vulnerable person does (or
does not) do something. An
example would be if some-
one was to threaten or bully a
vulnerable person into sign-
ing a document that would
not be to the vulnerable per-
son9s best interest <or else...=
Or, stating if the vulnerable
person did (or did not) do
something, they would be
made miserable for the rest
of their life. Or, stating if a
vulnerable person does (or
does not) do something,
they will never see some-
thing important (i.e., their
pet, grandchildren, or home)
again.
Verbal and emotional
abuse is particularly per-
sistent in cases involving
other types of abuse, such as
physical or financial abuse,
when the perpetrator tries
to control the victim from
reporting the abuse. Often,
the victim is made to feel
guilty or somehow respon-
sible for the behavior and
actions of the perpetrator,
such that the vulnerable per-
son becomes a reluctant or
unwilling participant in the
abuse investigation.
Physical abuse represents
15 percent of all substanti-
ated abuse cases of Oregon9s
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vulnerable population in
2017 and is any physical
injury to an adult caused by
other than accidental means
that may result in bodily
injury, physical pain, or
impairment.
Some of the warning signs
of physical abuse include:
" Cuts, lacerations, punc-
tures, wounds.
" Bruises, welts, discolor-
ations, grip marks.
" Any unexplained injury
that doesn9t fit with the given
explanation of the injury.
" Any injury incompatible
with the person9s history of
unexplained injuries.
" Any injury which has
not been properly cared for
(sometimes injuries are hid-
den on areas of the body nor-
mally covered by clothing).
" Dehydration and/or mal-
nourishment without illness-
related cause.
" Unexplained loss of
weight.
" Burns, possibly caused
by cigarettes, caustics, acids
or friction from ropes or
chains.
Victims of physical
abuse may excuse away
their injuries by stating
that they injured them-
selves. Regular check-ups
by medical professionals,
including routine physical
and vision exams, can assist
in determining whether inju-
ries are signs of abuse or
reflect a need for changes
in medication or other
accommodations.
If you become aware of
signs that a person over 65
(or a person with disabilities
of any age) is being abused,
report it and let the authori-
ties investigate. Protect any
evidence you may have and
call the toll-free abuse hot-
line at 800-503-SAFE or by
calling local law enforce-
ment in the county where the
abuse occurred. If you report
elder abuse in good faith, the
law will protect you from
being sued by the alleged
abuser if you are mistaken.
D r. B e t s y L e i g h t y -
Johnson has a PhD in
Human Services with a spe-
cialization in Social and
Community Services. In
September 2014, the author
and her husband discovered
his (then) 96-year-old mother
had been the victim of finan-
cial elder abuse. They were
very involved in the collec-
tion of evidence assisting
in the felony prosecution of
the victim9s daughter for the
crime. Since that time, the
author has become an elder
abuse advocate, currently
assisting the Deschutes
County District Attorney9s
office with elder abuse cases.