1 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So when you think about a child, a close friend, or a romantic partner, 2 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the word "love" probably comes to mind, 3 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and instantly other emotions rush in: 4 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 joy and hope, 5 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 excitement, trust and security, 6 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and yes, sometimes sadness and disappointment. 7 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There might not be a word in the dictionary 8 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that more of us are connected to than love. 9 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Yet, given its central importance in our lives, 10 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 isn't it interesting that we're never explicitly taught how to love? 11 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We build friendships, 12 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 navigate early romantic relationships, 13 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 get married and bring babies home from the hospital 14 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 with the expectation that we'll figure it out. 15 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But the truth is, we often harm and disrespect the ones we love. 16 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It can be subtle things like guilting a friend 17 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 into spending time with you 18 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or sneaking a peak at your partner's texts 19 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or shaming a child for their lack of effort at school. 20 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 100 percent of us will be on the receiving end 21 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 of unhealthy relationship behaviors, 22 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and 100 percent of us will do unhealthy things. 23 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's part of being human. 24 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 In its worst form, the harm we inflict on loved ones 25 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 shows up as abuse and violence, 26 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and relationship abuse 27 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 is something that one in three women and one in four men 28 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 will experience in their lifetime. 29 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Now, if you're like most people, when you hear those stats, 30 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 you'll go, oh, no no no, that would never happen to me. 31 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's instinctual to move away from the words "abuse" and "violence," 32 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to think that they happen to someone else somewhere else. 33 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But the truth is, unhealthy relationships and abuse are all around us. 34 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We just call them different things and ignore the connection. 35 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Abuse sneaks up on us disguised in unhealthy love. 36 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I work for an organization called One Love 37 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 started by a family whose daughter Yeardley was killed by her ex-boyfriend. 38 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 This was a tragedy no one saw coming, 39 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but when they looked back, 40 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they realized the warning signs were there 41 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 just no one understood what they were seeing. 42 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Called crazy or drama or too much drinking, 43 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 his actions weren't understood to be what they really were, 44 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 which was clear signs of danger. 45 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Her family realized that if anyone had been educated about these signs, 46 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 her death could have been prevented. 47 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 So today we're on a mission to make sure that others 48 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 have the information that Yeardley and her friends didn't. 49 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 We have three main goals: 50 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 give all of us a language for talking about a subject 51 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 that's quite awkward and uncomfortable to discuss; 52 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 empower a whole frontline, namely friends, to help; 53 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and, in the process, improve all of our ability to love better. 54 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 To do this, it's always important to start by illuminating 55 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the unhealthy signs that we frequently miss, 56 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and our work really focuses on creating content 57 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to start conversations with young people. 58 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 As you'd expect, most of our content is pretty serious, given the subject at hand, 59 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but today I'm going to use one of our more light-hearted 60 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 yet still thought-provoking pieces, 61 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 the Couplets, 62 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to illuminate five markers of unhealthy love. 63 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 The first is intensity. 64 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (Video) Blue: I haven't seen you in a couple days. 65 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 I've missed you. 66 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange: Aww, I've missed you too. (#thatslove) 67 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Blue: I haven't seen you in five minutes. It feels like a lifetime. 68 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 What have you been doing without me for five whole minutes? 69 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange: It's been three minutes. (#thatsnotlove) 70 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Katie Hood: Anybody recognize that? I don't know. I do. 71 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Abusive relationships don't start out abusive. 72 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They start out exciting and exhilarating. 73 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's an intensity of affection and emotion, 74 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 a rush. 75 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It feels really good. 76 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You feel so lucky, like you've hit the jackpot. 77 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 But in unhealthy love, these feelings shift over time 78 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 from exciting to overwhelming and maybe a little bit suffocating. 79 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You feel it in your gut. 80 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Maybe it's when your new boyfriend or girlfriend 81 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 says I love you faster than you were ready for 82 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or starts showing up everywhere, texting and calling a lot. 83 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Maybe they're impatient when you're slow to respond, 84 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 even though they know you had other things going on that day. 85 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's important to remember that it's not how a relationship starts that matters, 86 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it's how it evolves. 87 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's important in the early days of a new relationship 88 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to pay attention to how you're feeling. 89 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Are you comfortable with the pace of intimacy? 90 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Do you feel like you have space and room to breathe? 91 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 It's also really important to start practicing using your voice 92 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to talk about your own needs. 93 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Are your requests respected? 94 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A second marker is isolation. 95 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (Video) Orange 2: Want to hang out later? 96 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange 1: Me and my boyfriend always have Monday Funday. 97 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange 2: Awww. (#thatslove) 98 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange 2: Want to hang out later? 99 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange 1: Me and my boyfriend always have Monday Funday. 100 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange 2: Tomorrow? Orange 1: It's our Tuesday Snooze Day. 101 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Orange 2: Wednesday? Orange 1: No Friends Day. 102 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (#thatsnotlove) 103 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 KH: If you ask me, isolation is one of the most frequently missed 104 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and misunderstood signs of unhealthy love. 105 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Why? 106 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Well, because every new relationship starts out with this intense desire 107 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 to spend time together, 108 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 it's easy to miss when something shifts. 109 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isolation creeps in when your new boyfriend or girlfriend 110 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 starts pulling you away from your friends and family, 111 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 your support system, 112 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and tethering you more tightly to them. 113 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 They might say things like, 114 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 "Why do you hang out with them? They're such losers" 115 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 about your best friends, 116 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or, "They want us to break up. They're totally against us" 117 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 about your family. 118 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Isolation is about sowing seeds of doubt 119 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 about everyone from your pre-relationship life. 120 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Healthy love includes independence, 121 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 two people who love spending time together 122 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but who stay connected to the people and activities they cared about before. 123 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 While at first you might spend every waking minute together, 124 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 over time maintaining independence is key. 125 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 You do this by making plans with friends and sticking to them 126 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and encouraging your partner to do the same. 127 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A third marker of unhealthy love is extreme jealousy. 128 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (Video) Blue 2: What are you so happy about? 129 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Blue 1: She just started following me on Instagram! 130 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (#thatslove) 131 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Blue 2: What are you so nervous about? 132 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Blue 1: She, she just started following me, like, everywhere. 133 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 (#thatsnotlove) 134 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 KH: As the honeymoon period begins to fade, 135 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 extreme jealousy can creep in. 136 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Your partner might become more demanding, 137 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 needing to know where you are and who you're with all the time, 138 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 or they might start following you everywhere online and off. 139 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Extreme jealousy also brings with it possessiveness and mistrust, 140 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 frequent accusations of flirting with other people or cheating, 141 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 and refusal to listen to you when you tell them 142 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 they have nothing to worry about and that you only love them. 143 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Jealousy is a part of any human relationship, 144 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 but extreme jealousy is different. 145 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 There's a threatening, desperate, and angry edge to it. 146 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 Love shouldn't feel like this. 147 99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999 A fourth marker is belittling.