- Excessive jealousy - your partner is overly jealous. This starts out as flattering and you may take it as a sign he cares. Be careful if he is jealous about all men you come into contact with, your male friends, people you work with. If the jealousy gets increasingly worse with no reasoning behind it then this is a massive warning sign. Does he need to know precise details of ex's, and conversations that you may have day to day with any other male?
- Controlling - does your partner need to be in control of everything. Does he try to tell you what to wear, who to see, what to do, what to eat, who to talk to etc?
- Monitoring you - does your partner check up on you constantly? Doe he need to know where you are every minute of the day. Has he ever followed you, put a track on your mobile, checked your email, social network conversations?
- Mood swings - is he charming one minute having a laugh with you and then flips suddenly and is cold or angry with you? Does he sulk or get angry if you say or do something that he doesn't like or agree with? Can he scare you into silence with one glance?
- Isolation - does he prevent you or make it difficult for you to have time alone with your friends and family. For example if you have planned a night out with your friends or weekend away to visit family does he make any excuse to just turn up even though you had wanted some time on your own?
- Denial and Blame - if he upsets you but then turns it round and says its your fault for not stopping him or that you "made him angry" then this is another sign. He might get angry but try and blame it on a bad day, bad childhood, previous abuse he has suffered. There is never an acceptable excuse for abuse.