I want to know if I’m the only one.
bpd culture is going from addiction to addiction. maybe you quit self harming but you start smoking. maybe you quit drinking but you get into drugs. we’re all desperate for something to take the pain away
“Don’t use your mental illness as an excuse” means “Change your behavior, apologize, and do better next time.”
“Don’t use your mental illness as an excuse” DOES NOT mean “Your symptoms are your fault, your disorder is not even an explanation, and you are a bad person if you behave less than neurotypical”
I wasn’t looking for anything at all when I met you. Actually, I wasn’t planning on falling for anyone so soon. But then I met you. And that was it…I guess things just happened. I found you and I found myself slowly wanting to spend time with you. It was simple. It was easy. And I think that’s how the best relationships begin. You’re not looking for anything and then suddenly you realize; you have something.
— I fell hard.
one of the weirdest things about bpd is having extreme abandonment issues but having the urge to abandon everyone you know
Do you ever just lay on the bathroom floor crying your eyes out because you just can't handle anything anymore and everything feels like it's crashing down
Yeah me too
I want this.
I want us.
I want you.
Forever.
abandonment issues are fucking painful. i hate that the dumbest shit makes me feel like a small, helpless, confused and abandoned kid. it makes me feel like i’m all alone in this universe. it just fucking sucks.
“Cause we said no strings attached and I still got tied up in that”
— Drake /// The Motion
Am I in an abusive relationship/friendship? Checklist. Bold the ones that happened to you, italicize if you’re not sure. Originally written for relationships, later realized most points are applicable to friendships as well. (some are relationship specific, so you can ignore them if you’re checking for friendship, also this works for marriage as well)
Physical abuse
they sometimes push me, kick me, and/or intimidate me physically
they’ve hit me before, and I’m scared they might do it again
they make it clear that they want to hit me
they’ve been hitting walls, throwing things around me and at me, kicking objects or furniture, making it clear they’re barely controlling themselves not to hit me
they sometimes corner me/trap me with their body so I can’t escape (during arguments or otherwise)
they left painful marks on my body (from gripping my body too tight in anger, from pushing me to fall down, from rough treatment, dragging)
they sometimes hurt me but it’s only because they have short temper/alcohol problem/tough day at work/other things they deal with
they sometimes hurt me but they make it clear it’s only because of something I’ve done/said or something I failed to do or say
they’ve choked me, restrained my movements, pinned me down and refused to let me go even though I was struggling/paralyzed
they’ve ignored my cries of pain and kept hurting me
I’ve been in hospital before due to the injuries they’ve caused me
they sometimes make me feel like my life is in danger
Social abuse
they hate my friends, and want me to spend less time with them, or completely cut them out of my life
they’ve affected me to drop more than one friend from my life
they’ve managed to isolate me from family members, friends, acquaintances and people I used to enjoy spending my time with
they get angry if I enjoy my time out with friends/family, and call my socializing derogatory names, as if hanging out with people was a luxury I’m not supposed to enjoy
they lie about what people have said about me/think about me, in a way that makes me feel humiliated and hated by everyone
their behaviour towards me changes drastically based on who we’re with, they’re completely different when we’re alone compared to when we are in someone else’s company
they lie about our relationship to others, in front of me, and I feel I’m not allowed to challenge them
they threaten me in private to how I’m supposed to act when in public
they humiliate me in public and in front of their friends
they tell people to “just ignore me” and teach them how to dismiss me and my feelings
they talk badly about me to their friends and family and/or mine
they lie to others about what I’ve said and done, making sure I look awful
they make decisions for me and relay them to others without my permission, making sure I look selfish/rude/inconsistent/cruel if I don’t follow through
they mock my talk, walk, behaviour, opinions and features in front of others
they allow others to insult and humiliate me, and they dismiss it all as jokes
they allow others to say offensive, triggering and cruel things to me and they encourage it
they use my reactions to prove to others how I’m overemotional, too sensitive, hysterical or crazy
Emotional abuse
they yell at me even when I’m already crying
they make me feel as if no matter how much I try, I’m never good enough
they call me ugly/lazy/worthless/miserable/toxic, and act like they’re allowed to because it’s the “truth”
when I really need their help/support/comfort, they’re emotionally unavailable, or show no interest in helping me
they make me feel guilty and ashamed if I’m not there for them at any moment, and accuse me of caring too much about other people and activities, when I should make it all about them
they use every opportunity to talk about themselves and ignore whatever I say as if I only said it to offer them a chance to talk about their own issues, even if their issues are much smaller
they intentionally leave out some vital details about their life and feelings, only to use them later to prove how neglectful and ignorant I am of their issues, regardless of how much I listen to them
they make me participate in activities I don’t enjoy, benefit, or feel comfortable doing
they exclude me on purpose from activities I would have enjoyed doing
they get angry if I don’t readily quit my own activities for the sake of accompanying them on theirs
when planning, they always assume and take for granted I’ll do all the heavy and unpleasant work
they refuse to do a same favour for me that I’ve done for them in the past
they purposely do their part of the work badly so I would never ask them to do it again
they purposely manage activities so that I end up doing more unpleasant and draining work
it’s always assumed I’ll sacrifice my goals and needs for the sake of theirs
they seem to forget I have need for attention, affection and support, and no matter how much of it I give to them, I rarely or never get any in return
they don’t do anything for me, to the point where I feel neglected, lonely and sad as if I’m not in a relationship at all
if I point out they neglect me, they get angry and act as if I’m expecting the impossible from them, and accuse me of neglecting them instead
they’ve cheated on me before
they’ve cheated on me and decided it was my fault, because I wasn’t doing enough for them
they’ve cheated on me and demand forgiveness
they flirt with others when they know it makes me insecure and scared
they lie about the time they spend with others and make me feel guilty for doubting their lies
they go over my stuff, look thru my phone/computer/other private device, and make arguments to why they have the right to do it, and why I’m not to be trusted
they accuse me of cheating, flirting, and wanting to have relationships with others, to the point where I’m not allowed to look or talk to another person without getting punished for it
they feel they have the right to punish me, and often let me know they’re deciding just how dire of a punishment i have deserved
they insist on keeping the relationship secret to everyone, and I’m not allowed to let anyone know I’m even talking to them
they lied to me about having other relationships or being married
they make me feel like I’m hard to love
they frequently remind me of how much I am to deal with, and how much they have to sacrifice because of me
they frequently remind me of my every bad feature to remind me that I’m a burden to them, and that I should be grateful they still tolerate me
they keep promising they will never hurt me again, but they still keep repeating it
I always have to be reminded of how tough they had it and all the reasons they have for acting hurtful the way they do
I always have to focus on their problems, and push mine under the surface, theirs just seem to be more important
I always have to be considerate and hide my pain in order to not make them feel guilty
I always have to forgive them and keep acting like nothing bad happened when they hurt me
I’m sometimes scared of them, but I push it down and remind myself of the nice things they did
I’m sometimes worried they’re going to hurt me, but I remind myself of their potential to love me
I often feel used and exploited by them, and like they’re only with me to get something out of it
I keep waiting for them to return my love and act more supportive towards me for a long time
I sometimes want to break up but every time I start feeling this way they do something to make me feel too guilty to leave, or give me more hope that things will get better if I stay.
I feel if I leave them I’ll be doing the same thing everyone else has done to them, and I don’t want to be that person.
I feel obligated to stay because they’ll have nobody without me.
I feel like I owe them too much to leave them.
I feel like I’m here to prove to them that not everyone is awful, and that they can get what they need in life, and to restore their faith in humanity, and for this I’ve been enduring everything they did to me.
I feel like nobody will ever love me again if I leave.
I feel like I wouldn’t be able to survive without them.
I’m scared they’ll hurt me if I leave.
I’m scared they’ll hurt themselves if I leave.
they’ve threatened to hurt me, or hurt themselves if I leave
Psychological abuse
they insult me and/or call me names and slurs, and play it off as a joke a moment afterwards
they insist i don’t have a real reason for getting upset/offended/hurt
they humiliate and blame me for having problems and struggling with life
they insist that I caused all the problems for myself and I wouldn’t have them if I wasn’t so stupid/incapable/slow/mentally ill/lazy/problematic
they insist my problems are “made up” or just me dramatizing my situation
they question my choices until I start doubting them myself
they claim I’m too emotional and irrational to be making any choices
they call me “too difficult” or “too complicated” to deal with, and to love
they make me responsible for their feelings and actions towards me (if they do something it’s because “I made them do it”, if they feel angry it’s because I “provoked” them, if they feel unsatisfied it’s because I haven’t done enough for them)
they use my chronic illness/mental illness/psychological issues against me, to prove that I’m not a full person worthy of love, and that they’re supposed to be praised and rewarded for dealing with me
they use my past trauma/past experiences to explain why I’m distrustful and why I perceive them the way I do (implying that my perception is wrong and it’s my fault I don’t trust them)
they demand to decide how I should perceive their actions (they insist I should find their hurtful actions funny, charming, acts of good intentions)
they minimize and dismiss my feelings, concern, worry, anxiety, fear (you’re exaggerating, you’re dramatizing, get over it, get over yourself, people have it worse, you’re lucky, you should be grateful)
I can’t openly tell them when they’ve hurt me, I know it will make them angry/sad/upset
they make me comfort them when they hurt me
they get angry at mere implication that they did something wrong, and will fight to prove me otherwise, and punish me for making such accusation
they use my lack of knowledge in certain areas to make me look extremely dumb and ignorant
they belittle and put down my ideas, opinions, experiences and thoughts
they sometimes act like they don’t remember something they said or did to me that was really hurtful
they sometimes act like i did things they did (they will smash a vase and then ask me who smashed it, or why did I smash it the next day)
they insist they didn’t do or say things I can clearly remember them doing or saying, they demand my memory is wrong and that I must be imagining things (I would never do/say that!)
Body control
they make comments about my appearance that lowers my confidence
they make blatant requests and demands about how I should look/dress/take care of myself
they make demands and requests to what I should do with my own body
they talk as if it would be stupid for me to make my own decisions
they insult my body features, criticize my appearance, my weight, my dress choices
they insult features I feel really insecure about, and it makes me feel worse
they laugh at my appearance in front of others, and try to get others to notice a flaw
they compare me to others to show me how I should look, act and behave (why aren’t you more like x?)
Financial abuse (relationship/marriage specific)
they decided I spend too much and used it to take control of finances
they insist on controlling the finances and income, and dismiss me as too incapable to deal with such things
they don’t like me having a source of income and insist I should become financially dependent on them (maybe they framed it like “you don’t have to work, I’ll take care of you”)
they’ve managed to make me financially dependent on them, and they’re using it against me
they demand I don’t have equal rights to decide and manage our finances since they’re the only one bringing the income
they withhold money from me unless I do everything they want and expect of me to do
they make priorities to spend on luxury for themselves, while dismissing my necessities (basic clothing, food, hygiene items, healthcare needs, current project needs)
they decide how much I’m allowed to spend and I have to show proof of it
they lie to me about finances and our current standing
they spend large amounts of money secretly (on gambling, prostitution, alcohol, drugs)
I was forced to pay off their debts/credits/payments for their own belongings
I was forced to save them from financial trouble, and they only made more financial trouble
I’m forced to support them due to their unwillingness to work/losing a job on purpose
they emotionally/psychologically abuse me if I don’t give them full rights to my finances
Sexual abuse (tw rape)
they sexualize my behaviour, take my words and actions sexually when they’re not meant to be, and accuse me of “provoking them”
they get upset and angry if I refuse them for sex, or if I refuse to do a certain act
they punish me for refusing, withhold affection, care, resources from me
they don’t accept me saying “no” to sex, and will keep pressuring me
I don’t always feel like I can easily say no to them, they make me feel like I owe them sex
they’ve told me I’m ungrateful, cruel, selfish and withholding for refusing
if I said yes to something they assume it’s a yes for every time they want it, I’m not allowed to change my mind afterwards
I’m forced to give them sexual favours for holidays/birthdays that I don’t enjoy or want to do
they pressure and coerce me into sex acts I’m not sure I want to do, or I’m sure I don’t want to do them
they’ve been pressuring me to include other people in our sexual life, when I don’t want to
they’ve physically forced me into sex without my consent before
they touch me when I don’t feel comfortable with them doing so
they don’t stop touching me when I tense up/freeze
they’re rough and inconsiderate during sex, and don’t seem to care if they’re hurting me
they don’t stop when I’m hurt, overwhelmed, in pain, crying, making pained noises, paralyzing
they use sex to lash out their anger, and end up hurting me
they humiliate, insult, call me derogatory names and slurs, and emotionally abuse me during sex
they’ve inflicted injuries onto me during sex
they’ve done things I specifically told them not to during sex
they’ve done things to me during sex that I mentioned before to be uncomfortable with
they’ve put me in position where I couldn’t refuse to do a sexual act
they control me during sex, and will get angry or forceful if I don’t obey
they refuse to offer any gentleness and physical care during sex
they refuse to be gentle and considerate to me except after they’ve already hurt me sexually
they demand a lot of sexual attention but refuse to give any to me
they demand a lot of touch and physical affection but refuse to look at me or touch me the same way
they will call me disgusting/undesirable/ugly/unlovable and refuse to touch me, at the same time demanding that I give them what they want sexually
they’ve done things to me without my knowledge (while incapacitated, asleep, unconscious)
they’ve filmed our sexual contact without my knowledge, and/or shared it with others
*even if you seek out or derive pleasure from sexual abuse it will still inflict psychological injuries, and any person who would harm you during intimacy is not safe for your well being
If you bolded more than 7 items on this list, you are dealing with an abusive partner/friend. This is not a complete list of abusive behaviour, but it’s as extensive as I was able to make it. If you can think of more abusive behaviour not listed here, add it to the list! Also, if you have confirmed you’re in an abusive relationship with a man, your next reading should be “Why does he do that”, download it here.
“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where. I love you straightforwardly, without complexities or pride; so I love you because I know no other way than this: where I does not exist, nor you, so close that your hand on my chest is my hand, so close that your eyes close as I fall asleep.”
— Pablo Neruda, excerpt from Sonnet XVII (I Do Not Love You…)
Everything seems to be so hard. A blog about feelings, poetry, mental health and past trauma experiences and about living with it.
286 posts