Evening, definitely not off topic! I'm not really sure there is a difference. I don't know why there are so many different names for it...or if they're different abuses. They seem interchangeable - emotional abuse, psychological abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse...

Medicinenet.com stated "Emotional child abuse is also sometimes termed psychological child abuse, verbal child abuse, or mental injury of a child." Here's a link to a fact sheet about emotional abuse.

ChildWelfare.gov suggested the majority of definitions of emotional abuse use wording such as: "injury to the psychological capacity or emotional stability of the child as evidenced by an observable or substantial change in behavior, emotional response, or cognition," or as evidenced by "anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or aggressive behavior."

Out of curiosity I googled the terms "emotional abuse," "psychological abuse" and "mental abuse." There were 813,000 hits on emotional abuse; 441,000 hits on psychological abuse; and 221,000 hits on mental abuse. I'm thinking, perhaps, that emotional abuse is just the more popular terminology. But it would be nice to know if there really is a difference! Good question.