Abusive Relationships
Abusive Relationships
You may think that if your spouse or partner does not hit you that you are not in an abusive relationship. You have to know that there is more to abuse than just hitting or striking someone. Many people suffer through nasty verbal tirades and emotional abuse day after day, but just because the person never hits them, they think it is somewhat a normal part of life. This simply is not the case. Abusive relationships are probably more common than you realize, and if you are in one you have to get out of there as soon as you can. They don’t know any differently because they have never experienced anything better.
Many abusive relationships start out as happy ones. Often abusive personalities can hide their true nature until after the wedding vows have been exchanged. They abuse starts out small, and the abused often wonder what just happened, and they begin to dismiss the episodes as something they deserve. After a while, the abusive relationships become worse, but by the time this happens, the abused person can’t see any way out, and they often think that this is the way that love is supposed to be.
Remember that those in abusive relationships of any kind won’t admit that they think something is wrong. They may downplay the abuse because they don’t know any better. If they were abused as children, they may not even realize what real love and respect is supposed to be like. They were raised to believe this is how someone who loves you treats you. They may see their marriage or partnership as completely normal, even though they are living with deep pain each and every day. Abusive relationships seem to be something that happens to someone else, not them.
Sometimes there is nothing you can do to help people who are in abusive relationships, at least not at first. You have to try everything you can to get them to leave or to protect them. They may resist for a long time and insist that they are fine. Those in abusive relationships can often end up dead, so you have to keep on them until they see what is going on and make the decision to get out. They won’t leave until they can come to this conclusion on their own. Do what you can though, as you may be the voice of reason that finally gets them to see what is going on and to get out.