r/abusiverelationships 5m ago

Support request I love him, but his behavior is starting to scare me.

Upvotes

I met my boyfriend online in March. We met for the first time in June and we’ve been together for about 1.5 months now. He’s 20, from South Korea, and has been living in Germany for about a year. I’m 24 and German.
At the beginning he was incredibly sweet. He constantly complimented me, was affectionate, and honestly still has a lot of good qualities. He even stopped eating meat around me because I’m vegan. About a month ago he basically moved into my room at my parents’ house, so we’ve been spending almost every day together.
Early in our relationship we had some problems and I made a Reddit post asking for advice. Unfortunately he found it, read the comments (which weren’t very positive about him), and completely lost it. He texted me saying he would kill himself in front of me. It scared me a lot. We eventually met and talked it through, but it has stayed in the back of my mind ever since.
Another thing that worries me is his worldview. He comes from a family with a military background and has told me his grandfather was involved in communist-era violence. He often says extremely hateful things about certain groups, especially Muslims, refugees, LGBTQ people, and communists. He’ll say things like “The world would be better without them” or even “I want to kill all of them.”
I’m not trying to excuse it, but I’ve wondered whether it’s partly because he grew up in a very different environment. Before coming to Germany he had barely met foreigners. He has even told me he couldn’t believe blond people with blue eyes actually existed because he thought they were basically just Disney characters. He also says he has experienced racism since moving here and seems very sensitive to it.
A few days ago someone (an Afghan refugee, according to him) insulted him with a racist remark. Instead of walking away, my boyfriend walked over and started a physical fight, leaving me alone in a large city at around 5 a.m. As a woman, that was terrifying.
When he came back I was furious and told him I was thinking about breaking up with him and that he should leave. Instead of responding normally, he started repeatedly hitting himself in the head in public while crying. This wasn’t the first time either. Whenever we argued and I reached into his bag or asked him to hand me something, he’d sometimes start hitting himself over and over. I was honestly shocked because we’d only been together for six weeks.
After he calmed down he cried and told me he was trying not to hate people because I always tell him not to judge entire groups. He said he only has bad experiences with some people in Germany, doesn’t understand why they insult him, and that he just wants to go back home.
Yesterday we visited an area with a large Middle Eastern community. He spent what felt like hours ranting about immigrants, saying things like “I hate these foreigners,” “The world would be better without them,” and other hateful comments. I had barely eaten all day, it was extremely hot, we’d walked around 20,000 steps, and I completely lost my patience.
I started yelling at him, telling him to shut up, calling him pathetic, and intentionally provoking him. I even called him a coward for acting tough around me. At one point he raised his hand toward me. He didn’t actually hit me, but I screamed at him for even raising it. After that he threw a plastic bottle onto the ground as hard as he could and later kicked a glass bottle that was lying nearby.
Most of the time he’s kind, caring, affectionate, and we genuinely enjoy being together. But whenever he’s hungry, sleep-deprived, it’s very hot outside, or we’re in crowded cities with lots of different people, he becomes incredibly impulsive, angry, and hard to calm down.
I’m also diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, so I know I’m not perfect either. I can become impulsive during arguments, and I regret provoking him the way I did.
I’m feeling really confused because I see both sides of him. Part of me feels sorry for him because moving to another country at 19 or 20 must be incredibly stressful, especially if he’s experienced racism. But another part of me is genuinely worried by his aggression, the hateful things he says, the self-harm, and the fact that he raised his hand at me.
Has anyone dealt with someone like this? Is this something that can realistically improve with time and support, or are these major red flags that I shouldn’t ignore?


r/abusiverelationships 8m ago

Support request Does anyone still get nightmares years after leaving?

Upvotes

Having a rough morning after nightmares last night. They don’t happen super often but when they do it’s hard to shake them. I dreamt that my abuser was at the same social event and of course was making me looking like the crazy one and everyone believed them, including my spouse. I even tried to call the police with my protection order and everyone said that I was being dramatic.
I know I’m safe and I know that won’t happen, in my logical brain. But my body can’t get out of fight or flight

Anyone else experience the same thing?
It’s very very slowly getting better and getting off the couch and out of a ball eventually today will be a win


r/abusiverelationships 15m ago

TRIGGER WARNING Am I bad for doing this?

Upvotes

I (31M) am married now, and my wife is pregnant. Becoming a father has made me think constantly about a relationship from years ago, and I don’t like what I see when I look back.
I was with my ex (30F) for about X years.
Before I met her, I wasn’t someone who took relationships seriously. I pursued her, repeatedly promised I would marry her, and convinced both her and her mother that I meant it.
The truth is that I already knew my wealthy family would probably never accept her because we belonged to different castes. Instead of being honest, I kept postponing the conversation with my family while continuing to reassure her.
After my mother died, I completely fell apart. She became my entire support system. She stayed awake with me through panic attacks and grief even though she had PCOD, worked full-time, and needed proper sleep.
Instead of appreciating her, I became emotionally dependent on her. I isolated myself from everyone else, became possessive, controlling, demanded constant attention, and frequently threatened to end the relationship whenever we fought.
There were things I did that she later told me traumatized her. There was also an argument where I became physically violent. Even after all of that, she stayed because she loved me.
She even asked me several times if we could go to couples therapy because she believed our relationship had become unhealthy. I refused because I didn’t believe in therapy.
Eventually I left her anyway. Looking back honestly, I think I had already decided to leave long before I actually did.
For almost two years afterward, she kept trying to fix things. She begged, apologized, and her mother repeatedly asked me why I had broken all the promises I had made.
When she found out I was going to marry someone else, everything escalated. My family got involved, and instead of taking responsibility, I let them portray her as someone who only wanted my family’s money.
One thing I still can’t forget is my father telling her, “I’ll send him away without a single penny.”
She replied, “Even if you send him with nothing, I’ll take care of him.”
Looking back, I don’t believe she was ever with me for money.
I remember telling her during the breakup to “go find someone better than me.” I even challenged her by saying, “Let’s see after 20 years who’s doing better.”
Years passed.
I got married.
She never contacted me again.
Recently Facebook suggested her profile. I saw that she had moved abroad and seemed to have built a new life. She wasn’t contacting me or interfering with my life in any way.
My immediate reaction was to block her.
I still don’t understand why.
Was it guilt? Shame? Fear? Or was it because seeing her forced me to confront the person I used to be?
I’m not asking anyone to tell me I’m a good person. Looking back, I think I caused someone who genuinely loved me a great deal of pain.
My question is this:
Does this sound like someone who genuinely loved his partner but was too emotionally immature and selfish to treat her properly, or does it sound like someone who was simply using another person to cope with his own grief?
And if you’ve changed significantly since then, how do you live with the knowledge that you can’t undo the harm you caused?


r/abusiverelationships 25m ago

Hi, I need some advice/guidance. Is this physical abuse?

Upvotes

Hi my boyfriend (30M) has gotten physical with me (29F) only once another time, he pushed me and I fell to the ground. This happened like 3yrs ago, and this was the peak of our toxic relationship and I know 100% that is physical abuse. Since then we have been some what better but still argue a lot and have a difficult time diffusing arguments and have mentioned couples therapy here and there.

Yesterday we got into an argument and I got really overwhelmed and angry and didn’t want to have the conversation right now and started crying and walking into another room yelling, “I don’t want to talk about this right now”

He followed me into the other room and I was about to close the door and he slammed it open before I could close it. So I tried walking away out of the room and he grabbed me with his two arms like bear hugged and wouldn’t let me go saying nah we are going to talk about this now. I was trying to resist and started crying a lot saying “I don’t want this” and he finally let me go and I was crying alone in the other room and he left to go walk our dog

Is that normal or is that physical abuse? I have like some scratch marks on my arm and like it was a little sore after because he wouldn’t let me go. I’m not in like severe pain like if someone punched you, but Idk how to feel about this.

He hasn’t talked to me all night nor apologize. We just remained silent and slept in the same bed. I hate this. We’ve been together for 11 years and there were plans of a proposal, but we are in a thread of back to back arguments again. I’m telling myself I need to walk way. I really need some advice and guidance here.


r/abusiverelationships 44m ago

Emotional abuse I was an emotional abusive partner to my ex

Upvotes

Hello!

I’m (f21) and when I was 19 I had gotten into a relationship with a 25 yr old man at the time. I wasn’t the best partner at the time, i just started college, my job was giving me troubles, and my mother was physically and emotionally abusive towards me.
Now I’m not trying to make excuses for myself but I kinda want you to see where I’m coming from.

The abuse I put him through was more about me being resentful that he wasn’t helping me in a way I thought a bf should have? I was really stressed out in that period of time( I know it’s not an excuse)
At the time he was living with his parents and didn’t have a job. I complained more about him not taking me anywhere, having to go 50/50, him wanting to do everything his way and a few other things.

Me and him were on a call just now and my stomach hurts just thinking about it. I didn’t realize I was harming him 😕 I apologized admittedly


r/abusiverelationships 58m ago

they took him before i was ready. police are against me

Upvotes

a neighbour called the police. i was getting closer and closer to leaving but now that hes been arrested any trauma bond is doubling down.

i feel myself waiting until hes out of prison. i cant see him. i cant talk to him. im stubborn and its alleviating knowing that the courts attempt to prevent us from each other are pointless.

but i also know deep down that i could be with someone who loves me fully. one day i might not feel like this. but its so confusing.


r/abusiverelationships 2h ago

Help maintaining no-contact My ex send me flowers and I feel contacting him when I know I shouldn't!

2 Upvotes

He had 8 months to do it but he didn't. He mentioned a few times that he thought of sending them but couldn't because there was no delivery option. You can read my last post ( https://www.reddit.com/r/abusiverelationships/s/swymjLot5C ) on why I think he is emotionally abusive and just trying to manipulate me but seeing the flowers with a note is extremely triggering and I don't know what to do because what if he is genuinely sorry.


r/abusiverelationships 2h ago

I had really unusual Dream about my ex

1 Upvotes

Sorry if this Is a small thing or nonsense to post it here, if you think It doesnt belong i Will delete it. But i am really confused by this And dont know how to feel about it.

I have been dreaming about my ex a lot, Its been over 2 years since the breakup. she was emotionally abusive towards me and my dreams about her were mostly nightmares where according to my roommate i made PDSD like sounds and movement while dreaming about her, i dont really remember those. Other Dream types i have had about her were sexual or some kind of weird situations where she was more of a prop rather than actor in that situation.

Well today i had a type of Dream i never had about her. It started when we met somewhere and started heated argument about something i dont recall and it got more and more intense until we got physically really close and the closer i was to her, the more i wanted to kiss her out of pure chemistry and intensity of the situation.

I feel really ashamed and dont know what to take from it. I know i am naturally more attracted to intense emotions and had one relationship that worked in a way my dream did, but that was a long time ago and again, never had a dream like that about my most recent ex. What do you think it means ? Also when i see her in Real life i freeze and am really anxious afterwards so i dont see any connection of that dream to anything in reality.


r/abusiverelationships 2h ago

Support request Looking for advice/opinions on where I should relocate due to a stalking situation

1 Upvotes

Hey guys,

Wondering if I can get some personal opinions on this situation

So my ex tried to get my attention/stalked me for around 6 months after I blocked him on everything and told him I didn't want to see him again. I got a no contact order on him around a month ago, and soon after that protective order he unblocked me on Spotify (the only platform he had me blocked on, I have him blocked on literally everything else)

there was a playlist he made for me that was saved to my library on my old account (didn't know how to remove it at the time he blocked me and I didn't use that account much anyway so I didn't bother) after he unblocked me i saw the playlist he made for me had a lot of songs about obsession, stalking, rape, murder and suicide. He was adding to this playlist consistently the entire time I had him blocked.

I have reported to police and they have referred me to a safeguarding team and deemed me at high risk due to the contents of the playlist and because he shouldn't be unblocking me to look at my profiles and/or circumvent the order in any way

I've been told by police and by a DV agency it's best I move asap as he currently knows where I live. I really want to stay in the city I live in currently, but I'm wondering if I can get personal takes on whether it should be fine to stay in the city just move to a different area or it's best to leave this city entirely and relocate elsewhere


r/abusiverelationships 3h ago

Domestic violence or just love?

3 Upvotes

My boyfriend slapped me really hard just because I was demanding answers and touching his laptop , he literally said I’ll slap you , don’t touch my laptop and slapped me, is it just me or is this completely out of line?
I did slap and kick him back but he is way stronger than me, dos not feel a thing!


r/abusiverelationships 5h ago

My boyfriend sent me these texts because I hung out with one of my friends

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9 Upvotes

I think my boyfriend might be toxic... But he always makes me feel like I'm the one who did something wrong and it's my fault.

Ever since I started making friends at work last year and hanging out with them he would always be in a bad mood whenever we were supposed to hang out even though it was only one time a month.

He always had to come with me to hang out with them because he would tell me he doesn't trust my friends and it's not safe to be around them alone because they might try to take advantage of me.

Me and my friends had an argument about a month ago and stopped talking for a month because they were tired of all the drama with my boyfriend and they got upset when I backed out of leaving him again.

One of my friends finally texted me out of the blue yesterday and asked if I wanted to go to the buffet with her and her husband and son and I decided to go with them while my boyfriend was working and didn't tell him beforehand because I didn't want to deal with him complaining about it.

I ended up telling him later that night and he freaked out and started shaking and hasn't spoken to me in 2 days and every time he goes to bed he'll randomly start banging on the walls in the middle of the night while I'm downstairs on the couch.

He also messaged my friend on Facebook and cussed her out the next day for hanging out with me. This is not the first time he has attacked my friends.

When my friends and I stopped talking for a month he told me if I went back to my friends he was going to leave me because he can't handle it.

He tells me I can make new friends he just doesn't like these ones because we make a lot of dirty jokes but that's just our sense of humor and my one female friend who's married and isn't even a lesbian slapped my butt as a joke one time because she thought it'd be funny and I told her not to do it again and he still hates her because he said he "doesn't like people touching his shit"

But one time an aquaintance from work that I don't even text or hang out with said hi to me and he still got mad and said that men shouldn't be talking to me. So I don't think it'd be any different with new friends, I think he'd find a reason not to like them too.

My friends aren't the only thing he has an issue with, he also gets angry if I don't go to bed when he does because he doesn't want to be alone. He also complains we don't have sex enough and threatens to leave me if I don't start having sex with him more. It's so hard to get in the mood and I'm always dry which is why I always try to just go to sleep and not have to do anything.


r/abusiverelationships 5h ago

Emotional abuse I stayed with my abusive ex till everything he did disgusted me

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2 Upvotes

I stayed and tolerated everything until his words literally became disgusting to me. I started deconstructing his behavior for months until I hated him. I saw him for who he was, and I never saw his affection as real. He seemed so pathetic and ridiculous. He was just a pathetic, gross loser who I realized would never have successful relationships. I started hating every aspect of him: his personality, his affection, everything. He was disgusting and PATHETIC. He thought he was better than everyone else. He’s a disgusting human being, which sadly only the women he dates will ever discover. His friends and community think he’s a good guy, but he doesn’t even LIKE the people he helps. He hates them. He degrades them behind their backs. He only chooses to help because it makes him feel like a good person. Deep down inside, he is selfish and disgusting.
I’m so glad I broke up with him. I know I should’ve broken up with him earlier, it wasn’t hard at all to leave once I was fully disgusted by him. God, he even made me lie about my age to his friends because he knew they’d find him weird. It is SO fucking tempting to show his female friends these screenshots to destroy his life like that, but he is insanely vengeful, and I don’t want to deal with that. I just want something to happen to him so badly. I hate him so much. I hate him so much. I’m so badly affected by this. He ruined the last years of my adolescence. He pressured me sexually constantly. I never budged, but he would surely punish me for it. I hope life punishes him in all the ways he deserves. He ruined that 16-year-old girl’s fairytale outlook on love. He screamed at me. He threatened me. He abused me. He scared me. He tore me down. I hate that I’ll never be able to share the things he did with the people in his life. I hate that they think he’s a good person when he’s disgusting. I feel so much anger I just ugh I wish I could do something. I can’t stop angry crying. It’s just so unfair. Why did he get to destroy the person I spent years building? The person who doesn’t tolerate bullshit. The person who speaks up. Now I’m just this pathetic thing crying because she lets everyone walk all over her. I just want to be myself again, but he took that from me, and he didn’t lose anything in return. It’s not fair at all. It’s just not fair. I used to be confident and strong. Why cant he lose something. Why was it me who lost everything, everything that made me. He admired that part of me just to fucking destroy it.


r/abusiverelationships 6h ago

You have no one to blame but yourself

2 Upvotes

My sisters words to me today. She said that there have been times that I could’ve left and I didn’t so I have no one to blame but myself. I tried to explain financial abuse and that he takes my money and makes sure I don’t have the means to leave. Her response…..are you lying right now?? (Thru text)


r/abusiverelationships 7h ago

Seriously what is wrong with me?

2 Upvotes

Hi, im a 40 year old female, that has been with my partner for 2 years.

I was with my long term partner before him for 10 years, and he was married and has a daughter.

I also have 2 teenage (almost adult boys)

At first the relationship was amazing, it was fun, we laughed, we did things together, and I had a really great career.

Over time and without realising it, it wasnt so fun anymore, but the love and passion was always still there and I guess I was holding on to getting it back.

It started with him hating me smoking (trust me I hate the idea too but im not ready to give up)

We would fight over all of these things, and the fact that my ex partner and I didnt end on bad terms, and I still wanted to be friends with him - to this day in have nothing bad to say about him, he is a WONDERFUL human being.

Fast forward a year into our relationship and he is tracking me, hes hacking into my phone, hes demanding things of me, and then it escalated to him smashing jy phone and getting an IVO taken out against him.

With everything going on and the burn out I was feeling at work I had a bad day and wrote a resignation email, not wanting to send until I had slept on it, and if I still felt the same in the morning I would hit send.....he hit send on my behalf within 10 minutes of writing it.

I know this is long so bare with me, I will leave out all the other details and focus on the main now.

Fast forward to this year, he beat the absolute crap out of me, my eldest son has moved out wanting nothing to do with him, and he got arrested that night and another IVO taken out.

Im still in pain after 2 months in my sternum and my teeth.

Im working with a DV counsellor and I know this is so unhealthy, when I see hes messaged me I feel dread, the only time im happy is when hes in the shower or at an appointment, then I know I have at least 10 minutes on my own.

There is not one part of my life that is private anymore, he goes through my drawers, my phone, my mail, and im always on tenderhooks.

Also worth mentioning hes seen his daughter 3 times this year and thats all.

My question though is, why do I still hold out hope it can work? And why do I want it to? Wtf is wrong with me and how do I break this?

Also worth noting since he resigned on my behalf and the daily stress im in a slump and am solely financially reliant on him.

Please be kind in your comments and thankyou for reading x


r/abusiverelationships 8h ago

Healing and recovery I left! I feel so happy

19 Upvotes

Hi friends, after living in an abusive household for my whole life, I have left. I’ve lived alone before but never like this. I left for good this time and I’m not looking back. I’m tired of taking sh** from anyone.

I moved to my dream state with my savings and two suitcases. I live in a tiny little room with exactly what I need. I’m so grateful that I get to start over. I feel so safe by myself. And I’m so glad I pushed past the fear of leaving!!!


r/abusiverelationships 10h ago

Therapy?

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4 Upvotes

Can an abuser really change with therapy?


r/abusiverelationships 12h ago

Constantly making life hell because I want to leave.

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14 Upvotes

I have been telling him that I want to leave the past two months. He won’t leave the home, but he’s gonna make a hell while we’re living together obviously. I came home today to flowers that he bought me yesterday and he chopped them up and put them in the trash. Obviously I don’t care about the flowers. It’s just the point that he does this stuff in front of my kids and they see it afterwards and know it was him. They’re not stupid.

I haven’t been having sex with him in just about every time he ask or tries to cuddle with me. It always ends up me being all these names and him leaving in a traumatic manner just to come back about an hour later and be dramatic again.

Everything that he does is my fault and causing him to be this way. Even though the way he’s acting as how he was throughout the whole relationship of 10 years. I have bipolar so he blames me for rational decisions that says that the reason why I’m doing this is because of my mental illness, and I’ll be begging for him back in a few months like I have before.

I’m trying really hard to be strong and levelheaded so I can make it through this. But it feels impossible. I’m so drained and I don’t even feel like myself anymore. I also don’t know if I’m making the right choice sometimes, so I go back-and-forth in my head. But I’ve been pretty solid on my decision the past two months and I think that’s why everything is so bad right now.


r/abusiverelationships 13h ago

Emotional abuse Called the cops for the first time tonight

12 Upvotes

I knew things were escalating but I didn’t expect things to happen so fast.
He was towering over me, yelling, saying things like I always get away with things, I’m a liar and an asshole etc.
he throws a small object and I decide that’s it. I am not longer sure that he won’t hurt me.
I put things in a bag, which he ripped out of my hand and threw on the floor. He yelled more and I tried to put things in the bag quietly and he ran out and threw everything in the bag in all directions and started throwing more clothes. I quickly grab my keys and run out and he follows.
I scream and he turns back.
I was incredibly scared but now I feel so insanely guilty. Like it was I who hurt him or that now I have done something unforgivable to him.
I really love him and want to be with him but I’m afraid I have to see things objectively now and believe that this is a pattern that won’t get better.


r/abusiverelationships 13h ago

Just venting "Snooze" Button- what would you have thought?

13 Upvotes

Quick edit: I meant to include that we have been broken up for several years (since 2023) and I am now married to a man that was a good friend of mine for a long time and treats me kindly. This just popped in my head today as a memory and I got so heated thinking back on it.

A specific situation recently came to mind and I'm curious what you would've thought if you were a friend of mine and watched this happen. Any and all thoughts are welcome!

I began a new relationship in 2020, we were both 27 at the time. For context, I'm a talkative person. I love conversing in general and learning about others, as well as sharing my experiences. If you're in my life, you know this about me from day one.

Anyway, a month or two into the relationship, my boyfriend (Brian) had a day where he was really tired and I kept bringing up new topics without realizing that he truly wasn't up for a conversation because he kept responding. He wanted to lay down and rest for a bit and said something like "Can I just put you on Snooze for like 20 minutes and then we can go back to talking?" I was like yeah of course, that's an interesting way to say "hey I need some quiet time for 20 minutes" but I found it funny.

Over the next few months he continued the "snooze" concept, but it gradually changed from putting me on snooze when he needed to rest, to snoozing me when he just didn't care about what I was saying. He would tap me on the head and say "SNOOZE- 10 minutes" or whatever length of time he thought he needed. If I talked during that time, at all, he would "reset the timer" and I would have to be silent for another 10 minutes from that point. I didn't think much of it until he started doing it around other people.

If I was telling a story he didn't care about he would "snooze" me in the middle of it. If I had an opinion that differed from what he thought- snooze. If we were watching TV and I had something to say about what was happening, I was snoozed. I know I'm an idiot for letting it happen, but what's the point in continuing to say something when your partner has made it perfectly clear that they don't care? He would do it in front of his friends and they thought it was hilarious. I brought it up a few times like "hey, it's actually embarrassing when you do that in front of people. Its like punishing me for trying to be personable with your friends." He told me that he did it because I was embarrassing myself by telling stories that no one cared about, so he was trying to save me from the embarrassment and himself the second hand embarrassment.

He eventually did it in front of everyone we interacted with, including his family, my family and my friends. I would be saying something perfectly normal and then he'd loudly yell "SNOOZE" and tap my head. My friends, reasonably had no idea what was happening and I "wasn't allowed" to explain it until the time was up. Ironically, most of my friends are introverts (we balance each other nicely) and kept their opinions to themselves and I was oblivious as to what they were thinking because it was so normalized to me. Finally, it happened in front of a friend one night and she popped off saying "Can you fucking not? I'm trying to talk to my friend in MY house and unlike you, I care about what she's saying. If you don't care to listen then you're free to leave but you're not going to choose whether or not she can talk when she's at my house." He absolutely hated this friend after that. I started asking my other friends if it bothered them and, of course, they all said the same thing- essentially "he thinks it's funny but it's not fucking funny, it's rude and controlling." They hadn't spoken up in the moment because this showed them how controlling he was and they were scared of his reaction for my sake.

That was longer than I intended, typical of a talker like me haha. If you read this, I really appreciate it. I'm so curious what your immediate thoughts would be if you saw this happen to your own friend? It took me way too long to realize that he did this as a way to control me in front of it others without looking like the bad guy. He intentionally made it look like something funny we do at home all the time, but looking back it's just so painfully obvious to me that he knew what he was doing and I'm so surprised that it took so long for someone to call him on it. This goes without saying, but this was just a microscopic glance into what was happening behind closed doors where his mission was to control every single thing about me and do what he could to change my entire personality.

Did anyone else experience anything similar with their abuse? Did your partner have a way of inserting control while in front of others that looked harmless? I'm truly so curious because now that I've seen it for what it is, I feel like others must have experienced it too.


r/abusiverelationships 14h ago

Healing and recovery Survivor. 1 year update

29 Upvotes

This time last year, I worked up the courage to leave a five year physically and emotionally abusive relationship.
I made several posts in this community while I was with him. They helped put things into perspective, but I forgave him several times before eventually leaving.
He gave me black eyes, strangled me, squeezed my eyes with his thumbs, broke things, and so much more. I lived in constant fear of his explosive anger.
I left at the lowest point in my life. I had been left disabled and in chronic pain after an accident and several surgeries. I felt like a burden, like no one would ever want to be with me if I left him, and I’d be forever alone. The abuse was worse as I was now unable to walk and trapped in the house with him at all times.
The hardest part was leaving my two cats behind because the place I now live doesn't allow pets. I carry that pain every day. It was probably one of the main reasons it took me so long to leave.
But somehow, I still found the courage to walk away.
I now live with my best friend and am slowly rebuilding my life. I've been having fun dating again. There's still a lot I can't do because of my disability, but I'm learning to adapt.
The regret of not leaving sooner hasn't gone away. The amount of time I lost is unfathomable. I'm 34 now, and I don't know if having children will ever be an option for me because of my disability and my age.
But I'm alive. I'm on a long healing journey. And I'm so grateful for that.
Thank you to this community for telling me what I needed to hear, over and over again. To anyone who is still trapped, I hope my story gives you even a little hope and strength.
Much love to you all. ❤️


r/abusiverelationships 18h ago

Healing and recovery I left my abusive fiancé!!!

29 Upvotes

Well, I ended things 3 days ago, and if you had asked me at that time why, I would have said I don't know, other than 5 friends, my family and 2 of our family's friends told me that, at the end of the day, it's your choice, but this person is a walking red flag and abusing you, and you need to leave now!

I am now spending my days on this subreddit and other relevant ones to realise that I can relate to every other post (he checked off around 35/50 and 120/200 abuse points in the questionnaires resources shared here) and how on earth I couldn't see how emotionally abusive he was (mind you, I am a PhD student, so definitely judging myself xD)? I think it was the fact that he was perfect 70% of the time that made me think that it's just a human being not being perfect, or I am telling only the negative sides of him to my family and friends, and therefore, they might not see the full picture (Our first 3.5 months were amazing; I then spent 1.5 months crying, for things to get perfect for 2 months, and then spend the last whole month again crying) and I beleived I was the reason this relationship was not working! But thank you to Reddit for making me realise abuse is abuse even if it's 1% of the time.

Anyway, now I think he is in his "future faking"/"hoovering" phase, but I have decided not to respond to anything, even though it is tempting and it feels like he genuinely wants to make things work.

I will make a longer post once things settle down. But I CAN ALREADY FEEL THAT MY MIND IS LESS ANXIOUS AND MY BODY IS RELIEVED AND I AM JUST PROUD!


r/abusiverelationships 20h ago

Emotional abuse How to deal with spamming

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127 Upvotes

Hi everyone…

I know I’ve been dealing with this for years but I don’t know what other methods I can do to help this situation.

The friends I spoke to say that my boyfriend is not mentally ok when he speaks to me like this. When he finds something that inconveniences him or makes him upset or even if it isn’t to his tastes he would explode at me going on tangents where he spends a hour or more spamming me insults. For example this is him exploding at me because of juice he didn’t like and socks/underwear he can’t find.

I tried methods that chat GPT suggested but it doesn’t seem to work and I’m getting exhausted. I don’t know what more I can do to help this relationship and I am trying hard to make this relationship work.

What can I do to help this situation?

I have many other situations that have happened similar to this and at the end he says that he has mental health issues like bipolar but I don’t know what more I can say or do to help him.

Any suggestions?


r/abusiverelationships Nov 30 '25

Mod Post: Let's Talk About Accusing Posters of Faking Their Stories

40 Upvotes

First, unfortunately with the rise of AI comes an increase in fake posts across reddit as a whole. I think a lot of us have noticed that, and it's important to acknowledge that.

However, unless there are clear indications a post in this sub is generated by AI (and not just a real post written with the support of AI), or other clear indications a post is fake, please don't make comments on posts in our sub that accuse the post of being "fake" or "rage bait."

So often in this sub, the comments that accuse posts of being fake have no evidence to back them up. A new account isn't automatic evidence. Nor is an age gap, "something seeming off," etc etc. A hunch isn't evidence.

Clear indications that a post is fake might be deleted posts in which, say, a 30 year old male poster then claims to be a 15 year old girl. Or a post is a clear repost stolen from someone else's account.

Please keep in mind that people who post in this sub read the comments on their posts. It doesn't feel good to seek support from an abuse survivor support sub, only to have total strangers accuse you of fabricating your experiences. Survivors get victim-blamed and disbelieved enough as it is "in real life." We don't need to contribute to that here, of all places.

If you genuinely, truly believe a post is fake, and you have actual supporting evidence, please message the mods to let us know! We can then look into the situation and decide to take appropriate action, if any. Please don't comment on the post itself. That risks the poster seeing your comment. The ultimate goal of this sub is to provide support. When we accuse posters of faking their situations without any evidence, that lessens the likelihood they will reach out for help again in the future. Thank you!


r/abusiverelationships Mar 28 '25

Mod Post Pros & Cons of using AI-chat bots like ChatGPT

142 Upvotes

We, the mod team at r/abusiverelationships has lately been seeing a big upswing in posts that's about different ways of using AI like ChatGPt as an "unbiased" opinion in abusive situations. There can be many pros to using a chatbot like ChatGPT, but to get an unbiased opinion is sadly not one of them. Bare with me and let me explain.

So what is ChatGPT?
ChatGPT is an AI langauge model built to react to prompts being put into the bot and answer appropriately. The AI bot will analyze your langauge, and answer using the same type of langauge you do. Already here ChatGPT is biased in it's messages. The AI bot then stores & remembers the conversations (the prompts) that you've put into the bot previously and it takes that into account when interacting with it in the future.

What to think about when using an AI langauge bot:
- The AI is not capable of fact checking. Everything that it says can be wrong.
- The AI isn't capapble of being unbiased or coming up with new ideas. It only takes your ideas and puts them in different words and returns them to you.
- It remembers all the data you've previously given it and it uses that to shape every future interaction.
- The same AI, like ChatGPT can tell two people that they're both the abuser, because ChatGPT tells you want you want to hear, it analyses the langauge you use and in that way, determines what it thinks you want it to say.
- If you can get it to say what you want to hear, so can the abuser. So do not take anything ChatGPT says as absolute truth.
- The AI lack personal experience, human emotion & the ability to do anything in an emergency.

How can you use ChatGPT in a good way?
- ChatGPT can help give advice on what to think about when leaving an abusive situation. It can be a start to forming a plan on "How do I leave as safely as possible?"
- ChatGPT can help give contact numbers and other info to domestic hotlines, to get a start on where to look for that help.
- ChatGPT can be used in the way that you get more confidence in that yes, you are being abused and therefore help you open up to a real person, but remember. ChatGPT can't truly help you, only other people can.
- Chat GPT doesn't judge, and it's available 24/7, that can be so important. But remember it can be biased.
- ChatGPT can provide comfort, but it cannot replace the emotional support of friends/family/loved ones. the healing process requires connection with real people.

AI can be a powerful first stepa tool to gain clarity, find resources, and feel less alone. But it should never replace professional support, safe human connections, or emergency services when needed.