Ad copy

I didn't know it was toxic. That's the part people don't understand. It didn't start with screaming or control. It started with him knowing exactly what to say after every fight. Exactly how to make me feel like I was the problem — and then exactly how to make me feel chosen again. I thought that intensity was love. I thought the way I felt — anxious, exhausted, never quite enough — was just what relationships felt like. I was 39 before someone put a name to what I'd been living inside for six years. If something feels off but you can't explain why — these questions will help you name it.