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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Annalisa Barbieri

I’m 15 and in love, but I have to walk on eggshells with my boyfriend. What can I do?

An illustration of a woman, seen from behind, sitting on the floor wearing black trousers and a red and white striped top

I’m 15, and in a six-month relationship with my boyfriend who has a very toxic home life. This has given him significant mental health issues.

He gets upset by little things, and struggles to move on, catastrophising small disagreements, thinking I hate him and saying he’ll self-harm. He has a really strong sense of self: he hates people being better than him at anything he cares about, and is obsessed with looks. The real issue for me is that I often feel I’m walking on eggshells: I can’t tell him about achievements or he’ll get upset; I soften any viewpoint I’m worried he won’t like; I can’t tell him he upset me without him getting extremely defensive.

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