How to Recognize and Escape Abusive Relationships

Are you someone who is driven, passionate, and always positive, but find yourself feeling lonely and insecure in your relationships? Do you enjoy the greater things in life, but feel like your partner is slowly eating away at your life-force? If so, you may be in an abusive relationship.

Abusive relationships can happen to anyone, regardless of gender, age, or social status. In fact, temporary isolation from the outside world due to a pandemic or other circumstance can provide the perfect opportunity for an abusive partner to slowly erode your self-confidence and make you doubt everyone and everything around you.

It's important to recognize the signs of abuse in a relationship, including a partner who belittles or demeans you, controls your actions and whereabouts, or isolates you from your friends and family. Abusive partners may make you feel like you are always making mistakes, and constantly keep you on your toes instead of allowing you to live in your own world.

If you have children with an abusive partner, it can be even more challenging to leave the relationship. However, it's important to remember that your children will learn from your example. By staying in an abusive relationship, you are showing them that it's acceptable to tolerate abuse, which can lead them to seek out abusive relationships in their own lives.

Abusive partners may also try to make you doubt your own family and children, from both current and previous relationships. This is never okay, and can cause long-lasting damage to your relationships with loved ones.

If you are considered a strong, independent person who is looked up to by others, it can be even more difficult to admit that you are being abused. But it's important to remember that abuse can happen to anyone, and seeking help is a sign of strength, not weakness.

If you suspect that you or someone you know may be in an abusive relationship, there are resources available to help. You can reach out to a trusted friend, family member, or professional for support, and seek help from organizations such as the National Domestic Violence Hotline or the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.

Remember, you deserve to be in a safe and healthy relationship, and temporary isolation should not be used as an excuse for abuse. By recognizing the signs of abuse and seeking help, you can break free from an abusive relationship and create a better life for yourself and your loved ones.

Sources:

National Domestic Violence Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/

National Coalition Against Domestic Violence: https://ncadv.org/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/intimatepartnerviolence/index.html