Thank you for your supportive words, Angela. I refrained from conjecturing at diagnoses for my ex because I didn’t feel like it was my place; I was trained in crisis counseling, but DSM diagnoses are outside of my scope. Regardless, I do wish there were greater awareness of how particular mood and personality disorders might influence relationships — because it would (hopefully) help victims to recognize the warning signs and refrain from internalizing them whenever such a person should cross their path. Even after I realized my ex likely had some (unnamed) mental health issue(s), however, I still chose to stay for a while, because I cared about and wanted to be able to help him. I didn’t realize that this wasn’t a thing that I could do without his own sincere attempts at healing. My hope, though, is that, as more people study and write about abusive relationship dynamics, more victims and potential-victims will recognize the red flags and bail long before they feel too disempowered to do so. Thank you again for reading and for offering your thoughts. :)