| Threats regarding property and assets | Lawyer communicated 65/35 split and potential full property claim if agreement not signed. | Activates amygdala fear response, cortisol release, and loss-aversion bias, impairing rational decision-making. |
| Demand to withdraw complaints/restraining orders | Explicit request to dismiss prior legal protections. | Induces moral conflict and prefrontal cortex suppression, pressuring compliance. |
| Retention of pet custody | Explicitly retains dog regardless of agreement. | Activates attachment circuits (oxytocin), creating emotional leverage. |
| Unfair “amicable settlement” framing | Proposes superficial agreement with biased terms. | Exploits dopamine reward pathways, creating temporary relief and reinforcing consideration of unfair terms. |
| Threatening emails and WhatsApp messages from family | Insults, intimidation, pressure to comply, or emotionally coercive content. | Activates amygdala and stress circuits, increasing anxiety and hypervigilance. Repeated exposure strengthens fear-conditioning pathways in the hippocampus, reinforcing stress responses. |
| Pattern of coercive control | Combined legal, relational, and familial manipulation. | Maintains stress-induced neural pathways, limits autonomy, and creates cumulative psychological harm. |
