Abusive relationships can have various detrimental effects on the lives of individuals who find themselves in such situations. But how can one determine if his or her partner is abusive or not before going into a relationship.
Dr. Mark Kwaku Mensah Obeng, a Sociologist at the University of Ghana has revealed that there are some indicators that one should take note of when in a relationship.
Such indicators according to him, can help one determine whether or not their partners are abusive.
Controlling tendencies:
According to him, one of the signs people should be wary of is when they realize that their partners have become controlling.
Speaking on GhanaWeb’s Lowdown with Daniel Oduro, he said: “One of the signs that show that your partner may go the extreme is when they become controlling. They want to stalk your movement, and are interested in everything.”
Sudden intense change in character:
The sociologist was quick to caution that when people also realize that their partners suddenly have a change of character, they should be quick to opt out since it is very dangerous to stay in it.
“And especially if that’s not how the person really was, suddenly this whole intense behaviour emanating from that partner, it’s a red flag. It means that listen, the sign is there; if you are not careful, the worst may happen.”
Quick and sudden anger or rage :
Dr. Mensah added that another sign to watch out for your partner is when there’s a sudden rage or anger stemming from him or her when there’s a little misunderstanding.
He said, “There are people when there’s a little misunderstanding, then he’s all over the place. He’s threatening to beat you up, he’s threatening to kill you, sometimes over very simple things.”
Dr Mensah further advised that “Everybody shows anger but you see that this is not normal because the person goes to the extreme and haywire. In fact, some of them if you are fortunate and smart, they actually verbalise it that if this continues, I will kill you and kill myself too. Please these are not signs of love. This is a sign that when you are not careful, the worst may happen.”
“Under normal circumstances when somebody does this, over time, you expect that the person will show emotion, remorse, sympathy; but you realize that these traits are missing and he boasts about the fact that the last time he hit your head against the wall and is proud of that temperament. Please it is a sign that the person needs help,” he warned.