Many people wind up in abusive relationships without realizing that the relationship is abusive. It can often take a while to come to that realization that a relationship is abusive, especially when you so desperately want for the relationship to work or have been fed cultural stereotypes and propoganda about how people in relationships should behave. In this thread, our users talk about what made them realize their relationship was abusive and what made them decide to get out, and how understanding that a relationship was abusive has impacted the rest of their lives and relationships.