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A growing amount of people are now turning to the internet for advice on their careers, families, and other aspects of day-to-day living.

In many ways, going online for support comes with some major benefits. For starters, it increases the pool of feedback you receive. Traditionally, people turned to folks they knew in real life for help; though this is changing as virtual connections become more commonplace.

Relationship advice and Reddit

Of all issues where advice is warranted, interpersonal relationships take the cake. On Reddit, subreddit communities like r/relationship_advice and r/BreakUps are meant for people to seek guidance, feedback, and emotional support.

In 2024, it's not uncommon for Reddit relationship stories to go viral, garnering thousands of responses and millions of views. Though a percentage of this content, especially when it comes to romantic relationships, can be quite jarring.

Some people post on Reddit with fairly mild concerns, asking for advice on buying a new home together or picking out the right engagement ring. Other users, however, have taken to the platform with downright horrific stories.

Sadly, it is not uncommon to read people's accounts of experiences with domestic violence, having their children weaponized against them, being mistreated by in-laws, and worse.

Though as a collective, these relationship horror stories harbor serious lessons that are worth remembering.

Protecting oneself in interpersonal relationships

As human beings, the people we choose to associate with, build friendships with, or enter into romantic relationships with can make or break us. After all, individuals innately and subconsciously pick up the habits of their social groups.

Despite the jarring nature of relationship horror stories on Reddit, many of them share one common theme: towards the beginning of the union, the author noticed various red flags or warning signs that they ignored or didn't act upon.

On average, individuals, including malicious ones, do not have the wherewithal to run long cons in interpersonal relationships without eventually raising red flags. Many people, before they find themselves years into a bad relationship or friendship, intuitively feel that something is off with the person they're interacting with.

As time goes on, when one red flag is ignored, another one eventually appears followed by more. By the time someone's situation spirals into a Reddit relationship horror story, they've been going down a path of increasingly obvious red flags, yet failing to take necessary action to remove themselves from the situation.

If something feels off about a person, it almost always is. When it comes to any kind of relationship with another human being, a lack of comfort around them, feelings of suspicion that are underlying, yet hard to put your finger on, etc., should all be trusted.

It is better to be safe (and potentially wrong about someone) than to be sorry you ignored your instincts. Heeding the aforementioned warning signs can save people from very dark roads that often lead to long-term trauma, if not loss of life.