I think mental and emotional abuse fall under the heading of psychological abuse. But they are seperate in their nuances. Mental abuse is more like someone making you feel crazy by denying factual info. Like you know that you saw him take the spoon out of the drawer and threw it in the garbage but he repeats over and over he didn't and insists it was you who did it so after awhile you begin to doubt what you thought was true.

Emotional abuse is like when he says he loves you and you begin to trust him and love him back but then he withdraws his love from you. Or when you are denied the right feel something like when a parents tells a child that they are wrong to be afraid of the monster under the bed or the spouse says that you have totally blown everything out of proportion and have gone off the deep end. Or if someone goes off the deep end at you when you know there isn't any real trigger for the outburst.

Just my thoughts.
Carrie

<font color=blue>The important thing is this: to be able at any momeent to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.--Charles Du Bos