Many people want to know what is the difference between physical and emotional abuse. You can't really be physically abused without being emotionally abused because having someone you trust hurt you does also hurt your feelings. Both emotional and physical abuse are patterns of behaviour. Disrespectful men will build up the disrespectful pattern, it's usually less frequent at the beginning of a relationship and then increases.   There are women who are never touched physically but are really hurt by their boyfriends. Many women who have experienced physical abuse state that the mental or emotional abuse is much worse. Women find the emotional abuse harder because it is "mind-bending" or "crazy making" and can be more difficult to recognise. He can be really nice sometimes. If you don't recognise that you are in an emotionally abusive relationship you may start to believe that you're the problem. The real problem is your boyfriend's behaviour.   One woman described emotional abuse this way "It's a way of talking or behaving towards me that makes me feel really emotional, makes me hurt inside...the yelling used to get to me...makes me cry... especially when it's nasty language... worse than being hit." A group of women who have had a disrespectful relationship describe abuse as: "An attempt, by a man, to control a women so that she performs in a manner that meets his sex-role expectations and needs. Olivia said "A bit like making the other person uncomfortable. Whether it be hitting, insight or inconsideration, humiliation or stuff like that. I received the lack of respect, no consideration." Pam described it like this "Not communicating, not listening, selfishness, pure selfishness, they don't really care about our opinion, they are only seeing their needs and I think that is abuse. I think that's where it all starts. Their needs become more important than anything else. They see themselves as victims. I think they turn things around to see only their view, their needs. I think it's pure selfishness."  Have you or your friends had experiences like this? Tell us.