Channel: Ashley Alban

Category: People & Blogs

Tags: ashley albanashleyalbandomestic abuserelationshipsabusetoxic relationshipsmarriageashleyalban94

Description: The main reason I created a YouTube channel after considering it for years was because I wanted to talk about toxic and abusive relationships. They are unfortunately too common and do not discriminate based on age, gender, race, or social class. By talking about this subject openly, I hope that I can help reduce the stigma and shame surrounding it and foster more awareness and discussion. Yes, this is a very personal and difficult story to tell, but I am not ashamed. I was able to leave, and I want others to know that they are not alone in their experiences and they can also move on successfully. I decided that the best starting point for this discussion would be for me to tell my own story. This is a long story, and I can't go into every detail, so I have split the story into four parts: how we met, how things started to go awry, when it became truly abusive, and how I eventually left. This is when I realized I was in an abusive relationship. At the time, I only believed that abuse was physical. Despite our relationship being absolutely toxic, I felt like we were having regular issues that were beginning to get out of control. The first time he was physical with me, it really seemed like an accident. And unfortunately, when I went looking to help and advice, I didn't find what I was looking for. When it became truly physical and I knew I needed to leave, I felt trapped and as though it was too late. Of course it wasn't too late for me to leave, but I have to really stress how faulty one's decision making processes become when you're in a situation like this. The fact is that abuse isn't only physical; it's manipulation, control, verbal outbursts and insults, extreme jealousy and instability. The emotional/psychological abuse is just as bad as physical abuse. And if the other kind of toxic behavior is there, things can very easily become physical at some point. And even if things are never physically violent, you don't deserve to live with the other types of abuse either. Your partner will likely never change. This is probably the worst part of my story to tell because it's marked by so many terrible decisions. Everyone makes bad decisions sometimes though. It's a part of life. You can move on from them. You don't have to suffer with your bad choices forever. Resource for domestic abuse: thehotline.org 1-800-799-7233 Twitter - twitter.com/Ashleyalban94 Instagram - instagram.com/ash.ley.alban Patreon - patreon.com/ashleyalban Music: Ghost Processional by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-... Artist: incompetech.com