Relationship tends to be good in the beginning, everything seems nice, perfect whereas it makes anybody stop looking at the other side of the coin.
Whether you are dating a new guy or girl, a long term boyfriend or girlfriend, or even in a marriage, you may not be aware of the warning signs. Red flags like constant put-downs can signal a kind of emotional abuse, which is relatively common.
It can help you to know which red flags to look out for so that you can proceed with caution or cut things off if necessary.
What are red flags in a relationship?
Relationship red flags are warning signs that there may be unhealthy patterns or behaviors’ between you and your partner.
More well-known red flags may be abusive behaviour and aggression. However, some red flags in relationships are easy to miss. Toxic behaviors’ like manipulation, gaslighting, and narcissism, can be unnoticed in the beginning.
1. Frequent lying
Constantly catching your partner being dishonest is not a good sign. We are all guilty of telling white lies; however, if you notice that your partner is consistently deceiving or getting caught in lies, it is a red flag.
These can be small lies, like being dishonest about where they’re going or big lies, like not telling you how much debt they have.
Being lied to over and over again can make it difficult to build a solid foundation in the relationship or destroy one that you have already built, which can lead to a shaky future.
2. Constant put-downs
A partner frequently criticising you or putting you down, even if it’s in a subtle or passive-aggressive way, can affect your self-esteem.
This is a form of emotional abuse that can lead to feelings of anxiety and insecurity in the partnership. A recent study shows that emotional abuse is as equally bad as physical abuse and result in low self esteem and depression.
3. An unwillingness to compromise
If your partner is not willing to compromise even when it comes to the little things, you should proceed with caution.
If you’re in a relationship with someone who seems to make everything one-sided, you may end up over-compromising and wind up feeling resentful, hurt, misunderstood, and unsatisfied.
Healthy relationship carries two sided efforts.
4. A tendency to run away from difficult discussions
A partner who lacks the emotional or behavioural skills needed to cope with problems and runs away from them instead can harm your relationship.
Some examples are walking away from arguments without hearing you out, or ignoring you for days at a time when things get rough.
People who have trouble tolerating difficult emotions tend to lash out or flee when the going gets tough. Even healthy relationships will go through rough patches, so you want to be sure that your partner will communicate effectively with you instead of running away when things get hard.
5. Controlling behaviour and excessive jealousy
If your partner is very jealous, this may lead to controlling behaviour.
For example, they might feel jealous when you have a social life outside of your relationship. A jealous partner may also suffocate you with excessive calls or texts and try to control what you do.
6. A lack of healthy open communication
A partner who turns to passive-aggressiveness, blaming, or expressing emotions in an aggressive way is exhibiting ineffective communication.
Communication is a foundation of a relationship, so if you both can’t communicate openly and healthily, you are going to run into problems.
A healthy relationship provides a safe place for both partners to speak openly on their emotions without fear of judgment or criticism.