Contact Elder Abuse Lawyers in Los Angeles to Help Investigate
Emotional abuse towards elders is described as when an older adult is screamed at, threatened, or belittled. While it doesn't leave physical wounds, the psychological results can be devastating to the adult’s well-being, potentially causing an early end to their life.
If a nursing home or caretaker psychologically abused your loved one, you can file a nursing home abuse claim or even wrongful death claim should their life have already ended. These kinds of cases are handled in civil court and can result in payoffs worth thousands and even jail time if the abuse is severe enough to be a felony.
It should be noted that psychological abuse is harmful and often occurs in tandem with other kinds of abuse such as physical, financial, or sexual abuse. These other forms of elder abuse are often kept a secret through emotional abuse and manipulation of the victim.
When you contact nursing home neglect lawyers to start your report for psychological elder abuse, they will ask you what exactly brought you into their office. Your claims will be helped tremendously for you to have documentation of specific incidents where the psychological abuse occurred, but there are also other warning signs that you may notice that indicate abuse is happening when you’re not around.
Warning Signs of Elder Abuse
When you visit your loved one at their place of residence, you should soak in details of their environment and their behavior because there can be underlying signs that something is not right.
The elder who is being abused can give you clues in their behavior within necessarily telling you. In fact, their abuser may have threatened to harm them further if they tell anyone about what happened.
Signs that the elder is being emotionally abused include:
- Being reluctant or nervous to speak freely
- Isolating or withdrawing from friends and family
- Making up implausible stories about how an injury occurred or how household items were broken
- Exhibiting signs of fear, anxiety, anger, depression, or PTSD
- Changing their behavior when their caretaker is in the room
Seniors can often be abused by nursing homes and caretakers, even if those caretakers are family members. As the elder is transitioned into the care of someone else, it’s important to keep an eye on their behavior. If you notice a contrast in the elder’s personality, behavior, and mood after this transition of care, this can be a sign that they are being abused.
On top of that, you can look at the senior’s space to see if anything strikes you as odd. Similar to how social workers identify child abuse through the absence of toys in the household, the absence of the elder’s favorite items and personal effects can signal that they aren’t being treated well. If you find that some of their personal items are broken, then the perpetrator may have done this to intimidate the senior.
Risk Factors
Know whether or not you need to be on the lookout for emotional elder abuse by knowing risk factors ahead of time.
Elder abuse attorneys in Los Angeles frequently notice that psychological abuse occurs most often for seniors who have mental or physical impairments and live in lower-income areas. If the older adult needs help with simple activities like getting undressed, then emotional abuse is more likely.
It’s also more likely that single elders will be abused because their spouse isn’t around to identify the abuse.
Recent studies also show that race can be a risk factor for psychological elder abuse, as black seniors experience both emotional and financial abuse more than white seniors.
Suing Someone for Abusing Your Loved One
Our family court lawyers in Los Angeles can help you prepare for your elder abuse lawsuit. This includes getting documentation. If you need advice on gathering evidence to support your accusations, our emotional elder abuse lawyers in LA can give you a list of tips for documenting abuse during your initial consultation.
Contact us at (213) 466-0337 to begin your lawsuit!