Warning Signs of Potentially Abusive Relationships

Red flags are warning signs of possible dating abuse. These warning signs are words or actions that can sometimes be considered sweet or romantic by the person experiencing them and/or others who are not a part of the relationship. If you are seeing the red flags, that means that there are things going on in the relationship that you should be paying attention to.

Seeing red flags does not necessarily mean that the relationship is going to become abusive! If you think you are seeing red flags, a good idea would be to communicate with the person that you are feeling uncomfortable with some of their behaviors and ask that they stop or change the behaviors. If they are unwilling to do this, you may want to consider leaving or seeking help from a parent, teacher, counselor or other trusted adult. Don’t wait until the red flags become abuse.

Warning signs that your relationship could become abusive:

1. He/She has been in an abusive relationship before.

2. He/She has been in physical fights with friends or strangers.

3. He/She is cruel to children or animals.

4. He/She is weirdly and overly jealous. It’s one thing if she’s upset because you hung out alone with an ex, but a whole different thing if she’s accusing you of cheating with every person you run into, that girl from Chemistry, that guy that works at Chipotle, or your best friend.

5. The relationship seems to move really quickly. He’s already telling you he “loves you”, and it’s only been one week, or she’s making plans for your future together very soon into the relationship.

6. There’s a big age difference between you and your partner. You just got to wonder why an 18-year-old wants to date a 14-year-old. If this doesn’t make sense to you, wait until your 18 and then go hang out with a 14-year-old.

7. You get receive a ridiculous amount of texts or phone calls from them.

8. You find yourself spending less and less time with people you care about or doing less and less of the things you used to enjoy.

9. He/She is hypersensitive, super defensive, easily insulted, or feelings are hurt easily.

10. He/She is constantly blaming you or others for his/her feelings and problems.

11. He/She has a problem with authority, or people telling him/her what to do.

12. You get a lot of apologies (texts, presents, etc).

13. You worry about making him/her angry or upset.

14. It just doesn’t feel right. Above all, pay attention to how you are feeling. If it feels like abuse, it probably is.

Check out the story of Alex and Taylor and see if you can identify the red flags.