A reader asked:

A question about emotional abuse: Is it possible to be emotionally abused by a friend or somone who you aren’t romantically involved with? The person in question isn’t in my life anymore but when I think back to our relationship it seems abusive to me.

realsocialskills said:

Yes, it is definitely possible to be abused emotionally (or otherwise), by someone you aren’t romantically or sexually involved with.

Friends can abuse friends. It’s not rare, and it’s often not taken nearly as seriously as it should be.

For some reason, most conversations about abuse seem to assume that abusive relationships are romantic (and that the abuser is male and the victim is female.) But abuse happens in all types of relationships, and among people of all genders.

Abuse isn’t romance gone bad. Abuse is someone pervasively mistreating and harming another person.