Physical abuse can be detected by visible signs on the body including bruises, scratches, scars, sprains, or broken bones. More subtle indications of physical abuse include signs of restraint such as rope marks on the  wrist or broken eyeglasses. Emotional abuse often accompanies the other types of abuse and can usually be detected by changes in the persons personality or behavior. The elder may also exhibit behavior mimicking dementia, such as rocking or mumbling. Emotional abuse is the most under reported abuse of elder abuse. Elder abuse occurs when a person fails to treat an elder with respect and includes verbal abuse. The elder experiences social isolation or lack of acknowledgement in this type of abuse. Some indicators of the emotional effects of elder abuse is the elder adult being unresponsive or uncommunicative. Also they can be unreasonably suspicious or fearful, more isolated, and not wanting to be as social as they may have been before. Emotional abuse is under reported but can have the most damaging effects because it leads to more physical and mental health problems. Financial exploitation is a more subtle form of abuse, in comparison to other types, and may be more challenging to notice. Signs of financial exploitation include significant withdrawals from accounts, belongings or money missing from the home, unpaid bills, and unnecessary goods or services. Sexual abuse, like physical abuse, can be detected by visible signs on the body, especially around the breasts or genital area. Other signs include inexplicable infections, bleeding, and torn underclothing.
Common abusers
An abuser can be a caregiver, spouse, partner, relative, friend, neighbor, volunteer worker, paid worker, practitioner, solicitor, or any other individual with the intent to deprive a vulnerable person of their resources. Relatives include adult children and their spouses or partners, their offspring, and other extended family members. Children and living relatives who have a history of substance abuse or have had other life troubles are of particular concern. For example, Hybrid Financial Exploitation (HFE) abusive individuals are more likely to be a relative, chronically unemployed, and dependent on the elderly person. Additionally, past studies have estimated that between 16% and 38% of all elder abusers have a history of mental illness. Elder abuse perpetrated by individuals with mental illnesses can be decreased by lessening the level of dependency that persons with serious mental illness have on family members. This can be done by funneling more resources into housing assistance programs, intensive care management services, and better welfare benefits for individuals with serious mental illness. People with substance abuse and mental health disorders typically have very small social networks, and this confinement contributes to the overall occurrence of elder abuse.Perpetrators of elder abuse can include anyone in a position of trust, control or authority over the individual. Family relationships, neighbors and friends, are all socially considered relationships of trust, whether or not the older adult actually thinks of the people as "trustworthy." Some perpetrators may "groom" an older person (befriend or build a relationship with them) in order to establish a relationship of trust.