As terrible as it is to admit, emotional abuse is something that many people in romantic relationships are victims of and they might not even be aware of it.

A lot of people may be wondering, “What exactly is emotional abuse, and why is it so bad?”

Healthyplace.com defines emotional abuse as “any act including confinement, isolation, verbal assault, humiliation, intimidation, infantilization, or any other treatment which may diminish the sense of identity, dignity, and self-worth.” There’s a handful of signs of emotional abuse to watch out for, some of them being: frequent yelling or swearing, mocking, threats and intimidation, victim blaming, ignoring, name-calling and denial of abuse.

Emotional abuse is just as bad, if not worse and more common, than physical abuse. This type of abuse is severe in the sense that it might not be obvious to some people, leading them to think that having a controlling and toxic partner is okay. If your partner constantly lies to you, controls you, disrespects you, is jealous of platonic relationships and makes you feel guilty for their toxic behavior, then their behavior constitutes emotional abuse. Your partner making you feel guilty about every little thing can eventually lead to an unhealthy and never-ending cycle.

“Even when they recognize the wrongness of their behavior, resentful, angry, or emotionally abusive people are likely to blame it on their partners,” says Steven Stosny on psychologytoday.com.

If you at any moment think that your relationship is unhealthy and toxic for your mental health, do not let that moment pass you by. Don’t ignore it and don’t let yourself believe for any moment that verbal abuse is normal. It is in no way normal nor is it healthy.

You must try their best to realize that it’s not your fault and there wasn’t really anything you could’ve done differently to prevent your partner’s abuse.

I know that sometimes people are so infatuated with their partner that it may be hard to come to the realization that in actuality, their partner is not as amazing as they think.

A lot of people find it very easy to tell victims of emotional abuse to just leave their partners. In this case, the saying “easier said than done” proves to be very true. Victims of emotional abuse are already somewhat afraid of their partners because of how condescending they are, and to have to tell their significant other that they don’t want to be with them anymore might be really frightening. Eventually, the victim may build up the courage to break up with their partner, but while they are still together, the best thing you can do for the person is support them.

Emotional abuse can seriously affect people in the way they perceive themselves and their future relationships and because of that I hope that everyone who is in, or has been in an emotionally abusive relationship realizes that none of their partner’s abuse was their fault.

If you need help getting out of an emotional abusive relationship, you can contact the National Domestic Hotline, by calling: (800) 799-SAFE.