12 Signs You’re In An Emotionally Abusive Relationship
Because love isn’t supposed to hurt you — physically, sexually OR emotionally.
You’ve just been told you’re fat.
Not in so many words. But when you put on a new dress for your partner’s work dinner he looks you up and down and says: “that dress would be better on a slim woman.”
Deflated, you hurry back to the bedroom and change into a sexy number you know he likes. He says nothing.
At the dinner he flirts outrageously with a new colleague. When you later tell him you were hurt by his behaviour, he laughs. “You’ve lost your sense of humour,” he says. “You need to stop being so sensitive.”
You’re upset — and you’re getting increasingly resentful. But you can’t help wondering: does he have a point? Maybe the problem lies with you?
Emotional Abuse or Just-Not-Great?
Emotional abuse can be hard to recognise because it sneaks up on you. It gnaws at the edges of your psyche, then slowly eats its way into your mental health, confidence, even your identity.
Even those who are aware of the signs may play them down because, in the eyes of society, emotional abuse is “not as bad” as physical violence.
