20 Relationship Red Flags I Unfortunately Ignored for Months

Red Flag Antisocial Behavior Awareness and Manifestations

Red Flags to Watch Out for in an Intimate Relationship 

Never Ignore Relationship Red Flags

"The red flags are usually there, you just have to keep your eyes open wider than your heart."— April Mae Monterrosa

“You will never know how damaged a person is until you try to love them.” — Anonymous

Relationship Red Flag Behavior Warning Signs

Relationship Red Flag Behavior could be Permanent Behavior

20 Red Flag Behavior / Relationship Conclusions 

For months I was witness to / and on the receiving end of the most abusive and antisocial relationship behaviour that I have ever experienced in my life. I started living with my ex-girlfriend during the first Covid-lockdown period where her unprovoked abusive behaviour towards me happened on a regular basis.

I observed many of her communication and behaviour patterns as potential red flags early on in the relationship (even before our lockdown), but foolishly ignored most of them. It was only when her threatening behaviour escalated into physical assault and perpetual verbal abuse that I realised the seriousness of the situation. It wasn't an easy decision, but after this realisation (and the fact that her behaviour against me could deteriorate further) I took the necessary action to withdraw from the toxic relationship.

From red flag incidents to serious antisocial behaviour manifestations 

I will briefly describe twenty of the most profound red flag incidents that occurred during the course of the relationship. This will be followed by associating the incidents with specific irrational behavioural manifestations / characteristics - as perceived and identified by me during an approximately nine-month period.

Red Flag behaviour / incidents that had the biggest impact on me (and the relationship):

• She was rarely ever on time when she visited my apartment. To be more than an hour late sometimes is no exaggeration. I phoned her once after she did not arrive for more than three hours - she merely told me she forgot (and this was while she was in my area on business prior to our confirmed appointment).
  
  
• I lived like a guest in her apartment. In the three to four months I lived with her she never made me feel at home and / or offered me any shelf space for my clothing. I changed clothes out of my bags in the lounge (mornings and nights). She never discussed this with me other than to tell me there is no space for my stuff.
  
  
• She never offered to wash my clothing during the entire lockdown period, but she would do hers once a week. During a four month period I asked her twice - which she then did. The rest of the time I made alternative arrangements. 
  
  
• I was never thanked for anything I did or purchased. She showed no gratitude whatsoever. Not for food, flowers, gifts, weekends away etc. - I was never thanked for any of my efforts and / or any payments for whatever she / we needed.
   
• From very early on in the relationship I was asked when are we getting married. I was flattered the first time she asked, but felt uneasy with frequent reminders (as I was learning the rest of her red flag behaviour). 
  
  
• A few months into the relationship (as I was about to discuss my concerns about her behaviour) I was told the food that I purchased / cooked for us made her fat. This after she selected most of the shopping herself. For this I chased her out of my apartment - of which I immediately aplogised the next day. She never apologised for her inconsiderate comment or behaviour ever.
  
  
• She told me in the beginning of the relationship of a previous boyfriend taking over in her kitchen. Well, after a few months, she bestowed exactly the same fate upon me. This after I tiptoed 'on egg shells' in her kitchen (and never really taken any initiative unless we were cooking together).
  
  
• My text messages to her were regularly misinterpreted and / or treated with cold disdain. It was almost if any written communication / text messages were perceived as negative communication (or she had little interest reading them in full). Many of my messages were left unanswered.
  
  
• I was never trusted with assisting her. She would ask for my assistance with many (financial) projects, but when it came time to assist her she would postpone /or just forget about it. She was very quick to accept any monetary assistance (which I offered through a CFD trading portfolio I created for her). I was never thanked for any profit generated or for the subsequent transfers into her bank account.
  
  
• She told me one morning she felt like a second-class citizen living in her own apartment with me there. A the time I did not say anything, but I was rather disappointed and taken aback by her comment. 
  
  
• I was accused early into the relationship that I do not see / responded to her crying (one evening). The more I apologised (over many weeks) that I did not see or heard it, the more she was of opinion that I was lying. 
  
  
• I was threatened with her chef's knife (with the words - 'I will kill you') after she lost a few games of chess against me one evening. The verbal abuse that followed scared me more. I was shocked to the core - this was the first incident of a serious threat and verbal abuse, but unfortunatly not the last.
  
  
• I was physically assaulted one evening for switching off the television (without her even watching). I was punched, kicked and my shirt ripped from my body. A large chocolate Easter bunny was bashed over my head while I was grabbing my bags to go home. Even then I was still determined to make the relationship work. How naïve of me... 
  
  
• She was verbally abusive on many occasions. Mostly over the telephone and it escalated to weekly episodes towards the end of the relationship. It was so bad at times that I had to switch my phone off.
  
  
• She never apologized for anything. She even sent me a follow-up message to remind me that I deserved to be assaulted by her - referring to the physical assault and Easter bunny incident. No remorse or compassion were ever shown towards me.  
  
  
• I have never met a more obtuse racist in my life. Needless to say that I have never witnessed  bigotry of this nature from anyone in any personal, social or business relationship before. I was concerned with her blatant racist name calling and belittling (of anyone from a different race) from very early in the relationship.
  
  
• Her frequent (and vulgar) swearing made me cringe at times. She would swear at her mother (over the phone) when she did not get her way. It did not take her very long to engage with me in exactly the same tone of verbal abuse (and swearing) as she did towards her mother.
  
  
• Asked me to hide (or leave) for three hours when a male friend was about to visit her one weekend. I was very upset about this. Apart from her mother and brothers (and one friend) she did not introduce me to anybody else in her life - not even to one of her employees when we visited her clothing boutique one afternoon. 
  
  
• On occasion I did nor respond to her threatening text messages and she phoned my sister to inform her in no uncertain terms that she wants to kill me. My sister put the phone down after getting verbally abused by her, but phoned her back a while later to engage in a normal discussion.
  
  
• Bad-mouthing of a previous boyfriend over and over again. In the beginning of the relationship I believed her, now I know he must have gone through the same patterns / red flags as me. Today I am probably as bad a statistic as him (and others) in her mind. 
  
  

Classic Antisocial Behavior Characteristics identified from my Red Flag list:

• Aggressive Disposition / Anger  
• Callousness / Controlling Nature / Disrespectful
• Emotionally Unavailable / Excessive Swearing
• False Sense of Entitlement / Grandiosity
• Inconsiderate Behavior / Lack of Trust / Poor Confidence
• No Empathy / No Compassion / No Gratitude 
• No Remorse / Physical Assault / Poor Communication
• Poor Decision-Making / Poor Financial Planning
  
• Poor Time Management / Racism / Rage
• Negative Score Keeping  / Self-Centered
• Selfishness / Verbal Abusive / Violence
• Self-Absorbed / False Sense of Self

Despite the waving red flags...

There were many other intermittent (and possible ASPD cues), but less obvious red flag incidents. The (silent) warnings signs were omnipresent, like tiny flashing needles, slowly weaving disturbing patterns into an unhealthy codependent relationship tapestry - from the first day I met her until literally the cathartic final week. I still wonder many times why I did not leave earlier. There were many days when I knew I had enough, but still decided to stay. I really believed, against my own better judgement, that we could have worked things out. I wanted this particular relationship to be normal for both of us - with mutual love, trust and respect. Unfortunately, I knew from early on that she would not or could not be that special person to spend the rest of my life with.

Distorted sense of self

She did not see anything wrong from her side of the relationship. She kept on lecturing me / reminding me ever so often about all the so-called things I did wrong - to the extend that I asked her if she kept an Excel spreadsheet for scoring / updating my (bad) behaviour and judgements. An important note here is that her lecturing always occurred when I wanted to discuss the state of the relationship. Towards the end she gave me one opportunity for discussing the relationship without interrupting me - and that was the unfortunate moment I realised that 'the lights were on, but no-one's home'.

Antisocial behaviour concern
One of my major concerns was her relentless lack of empathy, gratitude, guilt and remorse during the relationship. The growing awareness of these chronic rudimental behaviour deficiencies manifested to such an extend inside me that I started questioning my own sanity to ever 'live up to her standards and / or perfectionism'. It was only settled within me after I took a step back and rationally assessed her overall behavioral disposition on my own / and with the guidance of one of my professional mental health / life coach friends. My friend's honesty stung at first, but it was exactly the objective re-assurance I needed to hear that I am involved in a (codependent) relationship with someone displaying frequent narcissistic and antisocial behaviour tendencies.

'Justification' for abusive behaviour

Towards the end of the relationship I received a text message to let me know that I deserved to be attacked by her - referring to the insident where she hit me over the head. Probably her own callous 'justification' that she did the right thing. I did not respond. A while later I received a second message inviting me to have lunch with her the following day. I responded more than 24 hours later to let her know that due to her first message lunch would never have been an option. This was perhaps the final straw that broke the camel's back. It was the first time that I enforced a boundary for not accepting an invitation and / or meeting with her. 

Reflecting on the troublesome relationship

In hindsight it is easy to say I could have handled the relationship / her Jekyll and Hyde behaviour towards me differently. I wish I could, but at the time things were moving so quickly and for what it's worth I had some of the best times of my life as well with her. Reflecting on the relationship red flags / other disparities I have identified my own interpersonal relationship challenges with regard to my cognitive dissonance and my relationship codependency shortcomings. Working towards a healthier interpersonal and relationship boundary framework is one of my first behavioral goals for creating a more confident approach towards other / future relationships.

© Vernon Chalmers : Mental Health and Motivation (20 Relationship Red Flags)

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