You’ve heard the old saying, love is blind.

According to Dr. Linda Mintle, people find themselves in abusive relationships wondering “How did it get to this point?” Many end up in bad relationships because they ignored the warning signs earlier on or simply were blind to their very existence.

It is important to have friends and family who can speak truth into your life when it comes to relationships.

“Listening to your friends and family is probably one of the key aspects because they tend to see these things in your relationship before you do.”

When falling in love, we don’t always thinking clearly. It’s critical to have someone by our side that is not as emotionally invested in the relationship as we are. If you don’t have any family or friends that can speak into your life, who will?

When entering a new relationship it is important to ask,

“Does this person try to isolate you from those friends and family because they don’t want you getting feedback from other people saying that they have an issue or a problem?”

One of the most common red flags in regards to abusive relationships is an explosive temper.

“This is such a red flag, and people will come in and go ‘I saw it, I saw it when I was dating this person and I just kept ignoring it.’”

An explosive temper cannot be ignored; more often than not it just gets worse. Whenever a partner begins throwing or hitting things and screaming, you know there’s trouble.

“No one deserves to be hurt in a relationship, no matter what has happened, there’s never an excuse for that.”

True friends will want the best for us and we won’t have to worry about them attempting to sabotage your relationship out of jealousy. Even if we think our friends are wrong, it’s wise to take their advice into consideration.

“Maybe their seeing some of those signs, maybe their seeing that person constantly telling you what to do, and trying to control you and you’re not even seeing that, you just think their assertive and have their own ideas.”

Are you in an unhealthy relationship or do you know anyone who is? Maybe it’s time to speak up.

“Friends and feedback from people who know you and love you, who have your best interest, can be one of the ways that you can get out of the blindness that you have when you’re falling in love with somebody who begins to treat you poorly.”

Highlight: Are you in an abusive relationship?

Abusive relationships