I feel like many men here are here at least in part because they've been in abusive relationships. It's certainly not everyone here, but it's a lot more than I expected.

I will admit up front that my abusive relationship experience isn't all-encompassing. I didn't experience any physical abuse, but the further I get away from it the more I realize there were a lot of abusive elements at play, especially in terms of emotional abuse. Basically, I don't speak for everyone and there are things I haven't experienced, so please expound on that where I may miss details.

Anyways, I just want to talk about it. To talk about how these things happen, yes, even to men. To talk about how it can make you feel powerless and alone. And to talk about how abuse might not even seem like abuse until you are able to get away from it. I'm reminded of all the times that I was made to feel like less of a man - to move from "one of the good ones" to "I didn't realize you were just like other men"... it's scary to realize that power lies entirely with someone else. Add to it all the times I put myself on the line for someone else's mental health only to have them pull away in my own times of need. Or the fact that I had to learn how to be a comforting person who deeply cares about other people's feelings, but the same skills were not something my partner ever had to build herself.

There's a lot of raw things to talk about and I apologize because I'm purposefully leaving this open-ended. I think it's time we discussed abusive relationships and how they uniquely present themselves to men. Let's talk.