When It Comes To Relationships, What’s Abusive And What’s Just Unhealthy?

Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

On average, nearly 20 people per minute are physically abused by an intimate partner in the United States. During a single year, this equates to over ten million men and women. Still, it isn’t as though the rest of the country’s relationships are perfect.

Relationships, like most things, exist on a spectrum.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline has created a visual for this range that looks like this:

They’ve identified eight different areas (nine if you have kids and parenting is a factor) within a relationship that you can use to gauge where your own falls on this scale. Below is the breakdown.

Communication

In a healthy relationship, you and your partner discuss problems openly and respectfully. In an unhealthy relationship, problems either aren’t discussed at all, or the discussions quickly turn into arguments. In an abusive relationship, your partner communicates in a way that is threatening, insulting or demeaning.

Respect

Partners in a healthy relationship value each other for who they are right now. In an unhealthy relationship, one (or both) of the partners are inconsiderate of the other. In an abusive relationship, one of the partners doesn’t…