When your relationship is headed down the wrong path.

Do you know that having good relationships is an important part of a healthy lifestyle? For some people though, while they fight depression or other mental health conditions, they also have to live with difficult or even abusive and violent relationships.
While it’s not always possible to prevent relationship violence, there are steps you can take to try to protect yourself.

If you think your partner might be controlling or abusive, you can:

• Trust your feelings – If something doesn’t seem right, take it seriously.
• Find out about the warning signs of someone who might become controlling or violent.
• Get help – Talk to people who are experts in relationship violence.

Remember, controlling or violent relationships usually get worse over time. If your partner might be controlling or abusive, it’s better to get help now than to wait.

Relationship violence happens when one person in a relationship tries to control the other person. When people think about relationship violence, they think about physical violence, like hitting or pushing. But people can use other methods to control their partners, like threats.

Relationship violence can include:

• Physical violence, like pushing or throwing things
• Sexual violence, like forcing or trying to force someone to do something sexual
• Threats of physical or sexual violence, which may include threatening to hurt another person or pet
• Emotional abuse, like embarrassing the other partner or keeping that person away from family and friends

If you feel controlled by or afraid of your partner – even if you haven’t been hurt physically – trust your gut. There are people who can help you figure out what to do next.