friends don’t let friends walk off cliffs

A reader asked:

Hi, I saw your post about abuse. How can you tell if your partner is abusing you? I’ve been told by a few of my friends that what my boyfriend is doing is “abuse”, but I don’t think it’s that severe. I don’t know how to feel about the situation.

realsocialskills said:

I don’t know your situation, so I can’t tell you much about your relationship. What I can say is that friends can often see things going wrong from outside a relationship that are really hard to see from inside it. Whether or not you agree that what is going on is abuse, I think it’s important to listen to your friends, take their perspective seriously, and consider carefully whether they have a point.

If your friends whose judgement you respect think that you’re being treated poorly, it’s important to make sure that you understand why:

Your friends might be wrong, but I think you should hear them out
Let them completely explain what they mean
In the course of that conversation, don’t argue or defend your boyfriend
Listen, and make sure you completely understand what they are saying
Take some time to process and consider whether they have a point
What do they think is abusive about your relationship?
Do you think the things they’re talking about are actually happening?
If so (whether or not you’re comfortable using the word abuse) do you agree that those things are hurting you?
If so, do you think there is a way to get your boyfriend to stop doing those things? Is this something you and he can work out?
If he doesn’t stop, are you willing to tolerate those things long term, or are they dealbreaking?
If you’re having mixed feelings about this, it’s probably a good idea to go back and talk to your friends some more about what they’re seeing and what you’re seeing

If you consider what your friends are seeing and whether you think you’re being hurt, you’ll get a better answer than you’ll get by considering in the abstract which things are bad enough to count as abuse.

A few years ago, I was very concerned about a friend. She was in a situation that I thought would hurt her very badly, and I wanted to tell her. But I wasn’t sure it was ok to do so, because I wanted to respect her boundaries and her adulthood and such. So I asked her if it was ok to talk about.

And she said something that stuck with me: “Friends don’t let friends walk off cliffs.”

I think this is important. Because if friends are in serious trouble and don’t seem to realize it – you don’t do them any favors by keeping silent. Friends don’t let friends walk off cliffs. Friends tell each other that the cliffs are there.

Pointing out cliffs is different from concern trolling or trying to take someone over. It’s – telling someone that they are in serious danger that you think they don’t know about.

Real Social Skills

Tag: friends don’t let friends walk off cliffs