When Love Hurts: Recognizing Abuse in Romantic Relationships
by Jessica Anne Pressler, LCSW
Why We Don't Always See What's Happening to Us—And How We Can Help Each Other
The Invisible Chains
You know something isn't right. Maybe it's the knot in your stomach when you hear their key in the door. Maybe it's the way you've started second-guessing every word before you speak. Maybe it's how you've become smaller, quieter, less yourself—but you can't quite name what's happening.
Here's what I want you to know right now, before we go any further: If you are being abused, it is not your fault. It has never been your fault. You do not deserve it, and you never did anything to earn it.
Abuse in romantic relationships is far more common than most people realize. Recent data shows that approximately 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men experience physical violence, sexual violence, and/or stalking by an intimate partner during their lifetime (Smith et al., 2018). But here's what makes it so insidious: abuse often hides in plain sight. We don't recognize it because it feels familiar, because society has normalized it, because we're caught in something called a trauma bond, or because that voice inside us—what I call the Traitor Within—tells us we're overreacting, being too sensitive, or somehow causing it.
Why We Don't See It: The Fog of Familiarity
One of the cruelest aspects of abuse is how difficult it can be to recognize when you're living inside it. There are several reasons for this psychological blindness:
The Echo of Childhood
If you grew up with a parent who criticized you constantly, maybe you don't notice when your partner does the same thing. If you learned as a child that love comes with conditions—that you had to be perfect, quiet, or accommodating to be worthy—then a relationship where you're walking on eggshells might feel oddly like home. This isn't because there's something wrong with you. It's because our earliest relationships create neural pathways that shape what feels "normal" to us, even when that normal is actually harmful (van der Kolk, 2014).
Trauma survivors, particularly those with Complex PTSD from childhood abuse or neglect, may have particular difficulty recognizing relationship abuse because their baseline for "acceptable treatment" was distorted early on. Research has shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) significantly increase vulnerability to intimate partner violence in adulthood (Ports et al., 2020).
Society's Complicity
Our culture has, for far too long, minimized, romanticized, and even normalized abusive behavior. We've been taught that jealousy equals passion, that persistence equals devotion, that if someone gets angry it's because they care so much. Movies, songs, and stories have sold us a version of love that sometimes looks a lot like control.
We've also received toxic messages about staying together "for better or worse," about not airing dirty laundry, about keeping family matters private. These cultural scripts can trap us in dangerous situations while we're still trying to be the "good partner" or the "strong person" who can handle anything.
The Traitor Within
This is the insidious internal voice that sides with our abuser. The Traitor Within tells us:
"You're being too sensitive"
"Other people have it worse"
"You did something to cause this"
"If you were a better partner, they wouldn't act this way"
"You're lucky anyone loves you at all"
This voice developed as a survival mechanism—often in childhood—to help us make sense of treatment we couldn't escape. If we could believe we caused the problem, we could believe we could fix it. If we could minimize what was happening, we could endure it. The Traitor Within is not your enemy; it's a part of you that's trying to protect you in the only way it learned how. But it's using outdated information, and it's keeping you from seeing the truth.
The Need for Distance
Sometimes we simply cannot see what's happening until we gain physical or psychological distance. Like standing too close to a painting, we can't see the full picture when we're inside it. This is why so many survivors say, "I didn't realize how bad it was until I got out" or "I didn't see it clearly until someone else pointed it out."
The gradual escalation of abuse—what experts call the "boiling frog" phenomenon—means we adapt to increasingly unacceptable behavior bit by bit. What would shock us on a first date barely registers after months or years of gradual boundary erosion. Research on coercive control demonstrates how abusers systematically erode their partner's autonomy through patterns of small, cumulative acts rather than single incidents (Stark, 2007; Crossman & Hardesty, 2018).
The Trauma Bond: When Love and Fear Become Inseparable
Perhaps the most powerful force that keeps us from recognizing abuse—and from leaving even when we do recognize it—is something called trauma bonding. This is one of the most important concepts to understand, and yet it's rarely discussed outside of professional circles.
What Is Trauma Bonding?
Trauma bonding is a powerful emotional attachment that forms between an abused person and their abuser, characterized by cycles of abuse followed by positive reinforcement (Dutton & Painter, 1993). It's not simply about loving someone who hurts you—it's a specific psychological phenomenon that occurs when someone alternates between cruelty and kindness, abuse and affection, punishment and reward.
Here's what makes it so powerful: When a person who frightens us also provides us with comfort, our brain gets confused. We begin to associate the person who is causing our pain with relief from that pain. This creates a biochemical and psychological bond that can feel stronger than the healthiest relationship (Carnes, 2015).
The Cycle That Creates the Bond
Trauma bonds typically develop through a predictable pattern:
Tension Building: You sense something is wrong. There's an atmosphere of unease, criticism, or hostility. You become hypervigilant, trying to prevent the inevitable.
Incident/Explosion: The abuse occurs—whether verbal, emotional, physical, or otherwise. This releases the built-up tension (for the abuser).
Reconciliation/Honeymoon: The abuser may apologize, make promises, show remorse, buy gifts, be affectionate, or simply stop being abusive for a while. They may also blame you but frame it as caring: "I only got upset because I love you so much."
Calm/Normalization: Things feel okay again. You might think: "This is the real them. The abuse was an aberration." You invest in this version of them, hoping it will last.
Then the cycle begins again.
Each time you go through this cycle, the trauma bond strengthens. The "good" periods—the reconciliation and calm phases—actually reinforce your attachment to the abuser. Your brain releases oxytocin and dopamine during these positive moments, creating a powerful neurochemical reward system (Fisher, 2016).
I’ve been there. For me, I was addicted to their crumbs. I was willing to do anything to get a positive response from them. It felt like they were the only person who could calm my nervous system. A simple “let’s go to dinner tonight” was enough to do so.
Why Trauma Bonding Prevents Us From Seeing Abuse
Trauma bonding interferes with our ability to recognize and acknowledge abuse in several ways:
1. It Distorts Our Perception of Reality When you're trauma bonded, you focus disproportionately on the good moments. Your brain holds onto every kindness, every apology, every glimpse of the person you fell in love with. These moments feel so good—especially in contrast to the abuse—that they become magnified in your memory. Meanwhile, you may minimize, forget, or dissociate from the abusive incidents.
2. It Creates Cognitive Dissonance Your brain struggles to reconcile two opposing truths: "This person loves me" and "This person is hurting me." To resolve this uncomfortable tension, you may convince yourself that:
The abuse isn't really abuse
You're exaggerating or misremembering
They're under stress or had a bad day
Everyone fights like this
If you just love them enough, they'll change
3. It Triggers Our Attachment System Paradoxically, danger and fear can actually intensify attachment. When we're frightened, our attachment system activates—we seek comfort from the person we're bonded to. In an abusive relationship, that person is the same one creating the fear. This creates a terrible loop: the more frightened you become, the more you may cling to your abuser (Siegel, 2018).
4. It Mimics Real Love The intensity of a trauma bond can feel like passionate love. The anxiety you feel when they're upset with you might seem like deep caring. The relief when they're kind again might feel like joy. The obsessive thoughts about them might seem like devotion. Many survivors describe being "addicted" to their abuser—and neurobiologically, that's not far from the truth.
5. It Makes Us Defend the Abuser When someone is trauma bonded, they often defend their abuser to others—even to themselves. If a friend expresses concern, you might find yourself making excuses: "You don't understand them like I do," "They had a difficult childhood," "They're working on it," "Things are getting better." This isn't denial—it's your traumatized brain trying to protect the attachment that feels necessary for survival.
6. It Makes Leaving Feel Unbearable Breaking a trauma bond doesn't feel like leaving a bad relationship. It can feel like dying. The withdrawal is real and painful—similar to withdrawing from an addictive substance. This is why "just leave" is never a simple answer. You're not only leaving a person; you're breaking a neurochemical bond that your brain has learned to depend on.
The Intermittent Reinforcement Factor
One reason trauma bonds are so powerful is because of something called intermittent reinforcement—arguably the most powerful schedule of reinforcement we know of (Skinner, 1953).
In an abusive relationship, you never know when you'll get kindness and when you'll get cruelty. This unpredictability is actually more addictive than consistent positive behavior. It's the same principle that makes gambling addictive: the occasional win (moment of kindness, affection, or normalcy) keeps you hoping and trying, even though you lose (experience abuse) most of the time.
Breaking Free From the Trauma Bond
Understanding trauma bonding is the first step to breaking it. If you're reading this and recognizing yourself:
It's not weak to be trauma bonded. It's a normal human response to abnormal circumstances. Your attachment system is doing what it evolved to do—it's just attached to someone unsafe.
You don't have to stop loving them to leave. Many survivors leave while still feeling love for their abuser. Breaking the trauma bond is a process that often continues even after physical separation.
The bond will weaken with distance and no contact. Time and space away from the abuse, without the reinforcement cycle, allow the neurochemical bond to gradually dissolve.
You may need professional help. Trauma bonding is powerful and breaking it often requires support from a therapist who understands trauma and abuse dynamics.
The Many Faces of Abuse: Beyond Physical Violence
When most people think of abuse, they picture physical violence. But abuse is not always—or even usually—about bruises. Here are the various forms abuse can take:
Physical Abuse This includes hitting, slapping, pushing, choking, restraining, using weapons, or any unwanted physical contact meant to hurt, intimidate, or control. It also includes seemingly "minor" acts like breaking your belongings, punching walls, or driving recklessly to frighten you. Research shows that non-fatal strangulation is one of the strongest predictors of eventual homicide in domestic violence cases (Glass et al., 2008).
Emotional/Psychological Abuse This is the systematic degradation of your sense of self. It includes: constant criticism, humiliation (especially in front of others), name-calling, gaslighting (making you question your reality or memory), threats (to harm you, themselves, children, or pets), isolating you from friends and family, extreme jealousy or possessiveness, monitoring your activities, and demanding to know where you are at all times. Recent research on coercive control has established psychological abuse as a distinct pattern of behavior that can be as harmful—or more harmful—than physical violence (Stark, 2007; Myhill, 2017).
Verbal Abuse Yelling, screaming, insults, put-downs, contemptuous language, mocking, mimicking, or using your vulnerabilities against you. This can also include the silent treatment—withholding communication as punishment, which research shows activates the same pain centers in the brain as physical pain (Eisenberger, 2012).
Financial/Economic Abuse Controlling all the money, preventing you from working or sabotaging your job, forcing you to account for every penny you spend, running up debt in your name, stealing from you, or making you completely financially dependent while holding that dependence over your head. This form of abuse is particularly insidious because it creates practical barriers to leaving. Recent studies show that economic abuse is present in up to 99% of domestic violence cases and is one of the primary reasons survivors return to or stay with abusive partners (Adams et al., 2008; Postmus et al., 2020).
Sexual Abuse Any sexual activity without full, freely given consent. This includes: coercion, pressure, guilt-tripping, initiating sex while you're asleep or intoxicated, "stealthing" (removing a condom without consent), forcing you to engage in acts you're uncomfortable with, using sex as a weapon or withholding it as punishment, or reproductive coercion (interfering with birth control, forcing pregnancy or abortion). Recent research has highlighted reproductive coercion as a distinct form of intimate partner violence that affects 8-15% of women (Grace & Anderson, 2018).
Digital/Technological Abuse Using technology to control, harass, or stalk: demanding passwords, monitoring your phone or computer, tracking your location through apps or devices, posting about you on social media without permission, sending excessive texts or calls, using spyware, threatening to share intimate images (often called "revenge porn"), or using technology to harass you after separation. Technology-facilitated abuse has increased dramatically with smartphone prevalence (Woodlock, 2017).
Spiritual/Religious Abuse Using religious or spiritual beliefs to control or manipulate, preventing you from practicing your faith (or forcing you to practice theirs), using scripture or doctrine to justify abuse, claiming divine authority over you, or weaponizing religious concepts like submission, forgiveness, or the sanctity of marriage to keep you trapped.
Social/Isolation Abuse Systematically cutting you off from your support system by: criticizing your friends and family, creating conflict between you and others, making it difficult or impossible for you to see loved ones, monitoring or controlling your social interactions, or deliberately embarrassing you in social situations to make you withdraw.
Identity-Based Abuse Exploiting aspects of your identity to control you—threatening to "out" someone who is LGBTQ+, using immigration status as leverage, weaponizing cultural or religious expectations, targeting someone's disability or health condition, or using racism, sexism, homophobia, or other forms of discrimination as tools of control.
It's crucial to understand that these forms of abuse often overlap and compound each other. Very rarely does abuse exist in just one category.
The Lies the Traitor Within Tells Us
The Traitor Within is working overtime in abusive relationships, whispering lies that keep us trapped:
"It's your fault." No. Abuse is always a choice the abuser makes. You are not responsible for someone else's decision to hurt you. Nothing you do or don't say, say or don't say, causes abuse. Even if you made a mistake, were imperfect, or had a bad day—none of that justifies abuse.
"If you just try harder, things will get better." This belief keeps us running on a treadmill, forever trying to be good enough, calm enough, perfect enough. But abuse isn't about your behavior—it's about power and control. Many survivors describe becoming increasingly compliant, only to find the goalposts constantly moving.
"Other people have it worse." Suffering is not a competition. Your pain matters. Your experience is valid. Just because someone isn't hitting you doesn't mean you're not being abused. Just because they're "nice sometimes" doesn't negate the harm.
"You're too weak to leave." Staying in an abusive relationship doesn't make you weak—it makes you human. Leaving is a process, not an event. Research shows that it takes an average of seven attempts to leave an abusive relationship permanently, with each attempt increasing the likelihood of success (Anderson & Saunders, 2003). The factors that keep people in abusive relationships are complex: financial dependence, fear, children, lack of support, immigration concerns, disability, religious beliefs, trauma bonding, and very real danger.
The Survival Strategy: Why We Bury What Happens
Many abuse survivors describe a kind of psychological compartmentalization—going through the motions of daily life while burying the reality of what's happening to them. This isn't denial or weakness; it's survival.
Our brains are wired to protect us from overwhelming pain. When we can't escape a situation, our psyche may help us dissociate from it, minimize it, or suppress memories of it. This allows us to function, to parent our children, to go to work, to get through the day. This is a documented trauma response sometimes called "learned helplessness" or more accurately understood as a rational adaptation to impossible circumstances (Walker, 2009).
The problem is that this survival mechanism, while adaptive in the moment, can prevent us from taking action to protect ourselves. It can make us doubt our own experiences: "Did that really happen?" "Was it really that bad?" "Maybe I'm remembering it wrong."
If you find yourself questioning your reality, minimizing incidents, or having trouble remembering specific events—this doesn't mean you're confused or overreacting. It may mean your mind is trying to protect you from a truth that feels too overwhelming to face.
Hidden Abuse: What Happens Behind Closed Doors
Some of the most damaging abuse leaves no visible marks. Covert or hidden abuse is deliberately subtle, designed to erode your sense of reality while appearing normal or even charming to outsiders.
This is why it's so critical that therapists, counselors, medical professionals, and court systems receive training in recognizing the signs of abuse—particularly covert abuse. Red flags include:
A partner who is charming to everyone else but cruel behind closed doors
Subtle put-downs disguised as jokes or "constructive criticism"
Playing the victim when confronted
DARVO (Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender)
Isolation that appears voluntary
A client who seems anxious, hypervigilant, or apologetic without clear cause
Someone who defers all decisions to their partner or seems unable to speak freely
Unexplained injuries with inconsistent explanations
Frequent cancellations of appointments or social engagements
Family court systems, in particular, need better training to identify abuse. Too often, abusers weaponize the court system itself, using custody battles, prolonged litigation, and false allegations as tools of continued control—a tactic researchers have termed "litigation abuse" (Elizabeth, 2017). Courts must understand concepts like coercive control, trauma responses that might look like "parental alienation," and why a victim might appear calm while their abuser appears emotional (because the victim has learned that showing emotion escalates danger).
Healthcare providers also play a critical role. Recent guidelines emphasize the importance of universal screening for intimate partner violence in healthcare settings, as medical visits may be one of the few opportunities for detection (Curry et al., 2018).
How Friends Can Help: Being the Lifeline
If you suspect someone you care about is being abused, you are in a position to be a lifeline—but it's important to approach this with sensitivity and without judgment. Here's how:
1. Express Concern Without Judgment
Say things like:
"I've noticed you seem stressed/sad/different lately. I'm here if you want to talk."
"I'm worried about you. Are you okay?"
"That doesn't sound okay. You deserve to be treated with respect."
Avoid:
"Why don't you just leave?"
"I would never put up with that."
"You need to..."
Remember: The person may not be ready to identify what's happening as abuse, or they may not be ready to leave. That's okay. Your job is not to rescue them or make them leave—it's to be a steady, supportive presence.
2. Believe Them
If someone confides in you about abuse, believe them. You may be the first person they've told. Your response can either open a door or close it. Research shows that positive social reactions to disclosure can significantly reduce psychological distress and increase help-seeking behavior (Sylaska & Edwards, 2014).
3. Validate Their Experience
Let them know:
It's not their fault
They don't deserve this
What's happening to them is not okay
You're glad they told you
You're here for them
4. Understand the Trauma Bond
Recognize that your friend may be trauma bonded to their abuser. This means:
They may defend their abuser to you
They may return to the relationship multiple times
They may seem to have conflicting feelings—loving and fearing the person simultaneously
They may minimize the abuse or make excuses for it
Breaking free may take longer than seems logical from the outside
Don't take their defense of the abuser personally, and don't give up on them.
5. Provide Information, Not Ultimatums
Have resources ready if they want them, but don't force information on someone who's not ready. You might say: "I have some resources about local support services if you ever want them. No pressure—just want you to know they exist."
6. Respect Their Timeline and Choices
This is perhaps the hardest part. Even when you desperately want your friend to leave, pushing them can backfire. Abusers thrive on control—if you try to control your friend's choices, even with good intentions, you're inadvertently mimicking the abuser's tactics.
Instead:
Support their autonomy and decision-making
Recognize that leaving can be the most dangerous time (the period immediately after separation is when victims are at highest risk for severe violence or homicide)
Understand that they know their situation better than you do
Trust that they're doing the best they can with the resources and information they have
7. Stay Connected
Abusers isolate their victims. Be persistent (but not pushy) in maintaining connection:
Send occasional texts just to check in
Invite them to things, even if they usually say no
Show up for them in small ways
Make it clear you're not going anywhere
Research shows that social support is one of the most protective factors for intimate partner violence survivors (Beeble et al., 2009).
8. Don't Badmouth the Abuser (Yet)
This is counterintuitive, but important: If your friend is trauma-bonded to their abuser or not yet ready to leave, criticizing their partner may make them defend the abuser or pull away from you. Instead, focus on your friend: "You seem so unhappy" rather than "He's terrible."
Once they're ready to see the truth, they won't need you to point out what's wrong—they'll need you to affirm what they're finally allowing themselves to see.
9. Have a Safety Plan Conversation
If you're truly concerned for their safety, you might ask: "Do you have a safe place to go if you need to leave quickly?" or "Can we make a plan for how I can help if things get dangerous?"
10. Know Your Limits
Supporting someone in an abusive relationship can be emotionally taxing. Make sure you're also taking care of yourself and seeking support. You cannot pour from an empty cup. Consider joining a support group for friends and family of abuse survivors.
The Complexity of Children
For parents in abusive relationships, the calculation changes dramatically. The decision to stay or leave becomes infinitely more complicated when children are involved.
Parents may stay because:
They fear losing custody (a valid fear, as abusers often fight viciously for custody not because they want the children, but to maintain control)
They worry about the children's wellbeing if they have to share custody with an abuser
They don't have the financial resources to support children alone
They believe children need two parents
They're trying to shield children from the conflict of separation
The abuser has threatened harm to the children if they leave
They grew up with divorced parents and don't want that for their children
Their culture or religious community pressures them to stay
Here's what parents in this situation need to hear: You are not failing your children by being in an abusive relationship. You are surviving. You are doing the best you can with impossible choices.
Research shows that children are affected by witnessing abuse—exposure to intimate partner violence is considered an adverse childhood experience (ACE) that can impact development (Felitti et al., 1998). But children are also affected by having a parent who is traumatized, depleted, or unsafe. And the reality is that separation doesn't always protect children; many abusers increase their abuse during custody exchanges or use visitation as an opportunity to continue controlling and harming the victim parent (Saunders, 2019).
There is no "perfect" choice—only the choice you can make with the resources and safety you have access to right now.
What children need most is a parent who is alive, who survives, who eventually finds their way to safety when the path becomes clear. If you are that parent, you are enough. And when you do leave, know that modeling escape from an abusive situation teaches your children powerful lessons about self-respect, boundaries, and resilience.
Resources and Next Steps
If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse:
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-7233 (SAFE)
Text "START" to 88788
Website: thehotline.org (with a quick escape button)
Available 24/7, offers support, safety planning, and connections to local resources
National Sexual Assault Hotline
1-800-656-HOPE (4673)
Available 24/7
Online chat at online.rainn.org
National Dating Abuse Helpline
1-866-331-9474
Text "LOVEIS" to 22522
StrongHearts Native Helpline (for Native Americans/Alaska Natives)
1-844-762-8483
The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health
www.nationalcenterdvtraumamh.org
Provides resources specifically addressing trauma and mental health in the context of domestic violence
Local Resources:
Domestic violence shelters (often have confidential locations)
Legal aid societies
Victim advocacy programs through prosecutor's offices
State Coalition Against Domestic Violence (each state has one)
Safety Planning: If you're not ready to leave but want to prepare, consider:
Keeping copies of important documents (birth certificates, social security cards, passports, insurance documents) in a safe place outside the home
Having a go-bag packed with essentials (clothes, medications, money, phone charger) hidden or with a trusted person
Opening a separate bank account if possible (consider using a trusted friend's address for statements)
Documenting abuse (photos, journal with dates and details, saved messages) in a secure location (cloud storage with a password they don't know, trusted friend's house)
Identifying safe people and places
Having a code word with trusted friends or family to signal you need help
Memorizing important phone numbers in case you lose your phone
Knowing your partner's schedule and planning to leave during a time they'll be gone longer
For Therapists and Professionals:
If you work with clients, I strongly encourage training in:
Trauma-informed care
Coercive control and intimate partner violence dynamics
The neurobiology of trauma and why victims may not "act like victims"
Trauma bonding and attachment theory
Cultural competency in understanding abuse across different communities
Safety planning and lethality assessment (such as the Danger Assessment tool)
The intersection of abuse with other systems (immigration, disability, etc.)
Understanding that couples counseling is contraindicated when there is intimate partner violence
The National Center on Domestic Violence, Trauma & Mental Health offers excellent training resources for providers.
A Message of Hope
If you're reading this and recognizing yourself in these words, I want you to know: What you're feeling right now—the fear, the confusion, maybe even the anger—is a sign that some part of you knows the truth. That part of you, however small it feels right now, is powerful. It's the part that will eventually lead you to safety.
You deserve relationships where you feel safe, valued, and free to be yourself. You deserve a partner who treats you with respect, even during disagreements. You deserve to take up space, to have needs, to make mistakes without fear of punishment. You deserve love that doesn't hurt.
The journey from recognizing abuse to escaping it to healing from it is not linear. There will be good days and hard days. You may leave and return multiple times before you leave for good. All of that is normal. None of it means you're weak or foolish. Breaking a trauma bond takes time, and that's okay.
Recovery is possible. Safety is possible. A life where you don't have to walk on eggshells, where you can breathe fully, where you remember who you were before all this—that life is possible.
And you don't have to do it alone.
A Final Word
To anyone living in an abusive relationship right now: I see you. I believe you. It's not your fault, and you deserve so much better than what you're experiencing. If you're finding a difficult to leave, that doesn't make you weak or foolish—it makes you human. That bond can be broken, but it takes time, distance, and often professional support.
To friends and loved ones trying to help: Thank you for caring enough to learn how to show up. Your presence matters more than you know. Understand that trauma bonding is real and powerful, and your loved one may not be able to see clearly what you can see from the outside. Be patient. Stay available. Don't give up.
To survivors who have found their way to the other side: Your resilience is remarkable. Your story may be the beacon someone else needs to find their way home to themselves.
None of us should have to navigate these waters alone. Let's keep talking about this, keep supporting each other, and keep working toward a world where everyone knows that love should never, ever hurt.
If you're in immediate danger, please call 911 or your local emergency services.
Remember: If you're using a shared device, your abuser may be able to see your internet history. Consider using a friend's phone or a public computer. The National Domestic Violence Hotline website has a quick escape button.
DISCLAIMER:
The contents of this website; blog, video, articles, media, social media, book, and references, are ONLY for informational and entertainment purposes. It is NOT intended as a psychological service, diagnostic tool, medical treatment, personal advice, counseling, or determination of risk and should not be used as a substitute for treatment by psychological or medical services.
Please seek consultation by an appropriate healthcare provider.
Call 911 if there is an emergency.
Call or text 988, which is the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline,
Call National Suicidal Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 to talk to someone 24/7 if needed. Call National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 to talk to someone 24/7 if needed.
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