“In psychologically abusive relationships, you wonder about a remark. Was it meant to be hurtful? You’re not sure. Often, psychological abuse is insidious. It’s slow and creeps up and can be devastating.”
Men and women react differently to abuse, he explains. A woman, for example, is likely to make an incorrect appraisal of her relationship and attempt to change the situation.
Men tend not to recognize an abusive relationship, but rather describe themselves as unhappy and are more likely to “bolt.”
Abuse has great implications for university students, Anisman warns. “Severe stressors are associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. A person who is overly stressed for a relatively long period of time experiences system overload – known as allostatic overload – thus leading to disturbances of our immune system or cardiovascular health.”
Anisman believes the best way to mitigate this vulnerability is to seek the proper support, whether it be counseling, cognitive behavior therapy or drug treatment.
Getting the wrong kind of support – what Anisman calls “unsupport,” or being ignored or blamed by those you would reasonably expect to be supportive – can be devastating as it goes across context.
In addition to receiving his Canada Research Chair, Anisman is the recipient of funding from both the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.