3 subtle signs that a partner might become abusive

The line between a partner who genuinely cares for you and one who obsessively tries to personalize you isn’t so broad.

Sometimes, it is hard to differentiate between a partner who truly has their good intentions at heart, and one whose intentions are no longer in line with what is acceptable in a healthy relationship.

This is because abuse in a relationship does not always begin with the clearly dreadful acts such as dishing out slaps and smashing objects in anger.

Abuse often begins subtly, and might get mistaken for genuine care and concern.

However, abuse cannot be guised as something else, and no matter how little or inconsequential it might appear, it is something to be worried about.

Below, we list three of the subtle, hard-to-pick things that could mean your partner has abusive tendencies.

Isolating you from friends and family

When a partner actively or passively tries to break you away from the previous relationships [friendships, family ties] you had before you got with them, it could be because they have a tendency to exercise some form of unhealthy control on you which won’t be possible if your close ones aren’t too far off and could scupper such plans.

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This type of move could easily be mistaken as a way of ensuring that there isn’t third party interference in the relationship. However, no matter how private a relationship could be, it is still not sensible to alienate everyone.

Keep your eyes open. This could be a red flag.

Sweating over your whereabouts

When a partner’s desire to know about your location, the people you are with, what you are doing and all that becomes too much, it could become a bit uncomfortable.

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This, coupled with explicit requests for phone passwords, laptop password and other things could also signify a form of impending abuse.

This is not to say all relationships like this will experience some form of abuse at some point, but it could be a sign.

Past relationships

While love might be on the brain and heavy on the chest, do not be too blinded to not see between the lines.

What someone says about past relationships, and how those relationships ended could provide a kind of hint on their character and whether they have abusive traits in them.

Abuse in relationships is suffered more by women, so, paying attention to what a guy says about his exes and how things ended between them could help in judging his personality, too.