I am worried about someone
There is no one, single sign that says someone is in an unhealthy relationship. No matter what that relationship is, whether romantic, between siblings, child-to-parent or -grandparent, unhealthy relationship can occur in many different ways and affect people differently.
People who are experiencing unhealthy relationships don’t always have cuts and bruises, sometimes simple behaviour changes can indicate that something isn’t right in their lives:
- Suddenly very quiet and nervous
- Not keeping commitments and appointments
- Making excuses not to see you
- Acting nervously
- Worried about what their partner / carer / sibling will think or do
- Acting secretively
- Changing their appearance
Their abuser may also show some signs and symptoms:
- Checking up on them all the time
- Stopping them from doing normal day-to-day activities
- Turning up unexpectedly
- Putting them down in front of you
Don’t ignore your intuition, if you think something isn’t right, do something about it – have that conversation and find out what you can do to provide support. It’s good to support people to take action on domestic abuse themselves, but sometimes things are too risky to manage informally. If you feel someone is in immediate danger encourage them to call their local domestic abuse service or the police for support.
If they won’t make contact, you can still call for advice – please reassure them that your only concern is their safety. If it is happening there and then call 999.
Find free support
There’s lots of support available across Cheshire to help people open the door. Encourage them to find free support from their local police, local council or the National Domestic Violence Helpline.