Dear Tyra, I have been part of an abusive relationship. I used to cut myself, just to see if I can still feel anything. Every comment he made, every painful slap that I felt, I marked them all on my arm. One night, I couldn't sleep. I sat up in bed and counted the scars...212... 212 times that he hurt me, 212 times that he cut a piece of my soul out. Next day, it was over. I told him I didn't want to be hurt anymore... and left.

Thats a shame. i'm only 16 yrs. old i have a sister that was going through an abusive relationship. i tell her that she doesnt need to go through that but for some reason she's still goes with the guy.and worse she has a child with this guy. What i dont get is when you try to help someone get out of a situation like that,its sooo hard for them to leave.sometimes i would want to slap my sis outside her head and tell her to wake up and smell the coffee. it just makes me sick how a woman can just let a man put their hands on her and just stay. and if i was the mother of that girl on stage i wouldve found that boy and whooped his @$$.

This was such an amazing topic to have on the show, all of those girls who shared their storys are such strong amazing girls, and no one should ever be put through what they have gone through. This topic really touched me, it brought me to tears, i know girls in this situation, and all women need to understand they can do so much better. i love the topics you have on the show, tyra your amazing! sorry for the late post, im in australia so its aired a few months late! jess, 17, australia

my name is jess im 15 and i live in Australia. After school i was watching the show and them girls on there saying that they are still with the guys that beat on them because they love him are just confused, i have been in an abusive relationship and i did love him, but i deffently did not take the crap he was putting me through, this was about 2 years ago, i was in this relationship for a year and a half, things were good at first then after 6 months he started controling what i was doing, where i was going, what i was wearing. He deleted all my guy friends numbers out of my phone and started cheacking up on my call logs, messages and so on. Than i stuck up for myself, so he started hitting me after 6 months of that it clicked to me that i can do so much better i knew it would be hard, i knew it would be difficult to trust an other guy wont do that to me again. My bestfriend is dating a tool who is ever worse than i had, i dont think he has hit her but i do know there has been some abuse, a couple of weeks ago he poored one litre of chocolate milk all over her because she was in his way, when she gets money she HAS to spend her money on him not herself, she isnt allowed to talk to guys. My sister is going out with a guy on drugs he has got my sister into them, i dont even like to think about what else she does apart from pot. At the start of this year she ran away and is recently living with her boyfriend in

Im 16 and live in Australia and there is so much abuse happening in Teen relationships around the world!I was in one and about 4 months ago broke up with the guy, only problem was that the guy is in my brothers soccer team, so i see him almost every week.When we were in the realtionship he would hit me tell me in fat and that if i left him i would never find love again.Around a week ago he raped me.I was going to the bathroom at one of the soccer games and he followed me in. So just a suggestion to those who are able to get out of an abusive realtionship, get as far away from the guy as you can because it can happen once your out of the realtionship too!

I watched this show last week thursday, and I was brought to tears because of my own situation. I'm 3 months away from my first child, and I realized that I was in an abusive relationship. to watch those senarios and to hear what the psychologist had to say, helped me to realize all that Ive choosen to deny to myself. I'm thankful that I was able to watch that show, and I'm already taking steps to change this, better to recognize these thingz now, then to get deeper and deeper into something I know I do not deserve. I'll save a prayer for all of you, as well as myself. Wishin you safety and the courage to love yourself more.

My message is for the young ladies that were on this week with the abusive boyfriends. As a teen, I dated a guy named Ed. During the year and a half we dated, he was cool. We broke up and I thought we were cool. His sisters and I still hung out. I began to date another guy from the neighborhood. One day we were all hanging out and a friend told me the new guy was looking for me. I got up from the steps to go where my boyfriend was and out of nowhere, he hit me in my face. My natural reaction was to fight back and I did. It later came to Ed and my new boyfriend having an altercation. I did not see Ed for years. About 5 years later, he came to a party that I was having. I didn't eve know he was there. I went outside and he came out behind me, asking me to forgive him. My answer was no, never. Fast forward to 1993. Ran into him again, he was charming. I chalked the incident up to immaturity and married him. One month into the marriage, he began to abuse me so I went home to my mother and filed for divorce. I was lucky. Not so much my goddaughter. Her then boyfriend beat her once when they lived in Washington state. Seriously beat her to the point of hospital treatment. When she was well, her mother sent her to Alabama to live. He found out where she was eventually and she moved to Las Vegas and married him. Of course, the abuse continued. She stayed because now they had 2 children. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer and realized that love doesn't hurt. She divorced him and began

him my name is karen im 18 years old and i was with my boyfriend for two years everything was going good until about 1 year and couple months..we started arguing about everything and up until the day of june 10 09 is when he hit me in school,i was pregnant almost two months and he knew(now im four months)and well we were arguing and i threw his phone and his reaction was to punch me in the face i did hit him back too and well as a result of this the school found out and suspended me and kicked him out because he already had a record in school of drugs,fights with others and that was his last chance.i havent seen him or talked to him since that day and i dont plan on getting back with him at all i might be pregnant and all but hitting me was the worst and well ive managed to cope with all this and i know im never going back to a situation like that.

so i was watching this show today and i could not stop crying because i knew that that would be me not to far from now. i dont know how i let my relationship get this bad...and with a 1 year old baby in the middle of it, it just makes everything harder....

I think this show is very interesting for the simple fact that the first young lady stated several times that she hit the young man as well. I think it is fair for the young man to seek help (from a professional, not people's opinions) but the young lady also needs to seek counseling, because it seems she has a problem as well. Abuse is never okay, from a male or a female.

OMG Tyra, as I sit here watching the rerun of this show Im crying my eyes out I just got a reality check. I,m the abuser! I have been married for 8yrs and dated my husband for three yrs since day one I pushed and pushed thought it was normal I saw it being done to my mom for 19yrs and never thought there was anything different. My husband has been very patient and understanding but I know that he has also said over and over again "this the last time Karla if you ever put your hands on me again I'm leaving you" I have controlled it for a while but at times I feel like I'm fighting myself. All I can say is that I'm so ashamed. The first time my father laID A HAND ON ME wAS THE FIRST AND LAST TIME HE SAW ME.I have never let anyone lay a hand on me I have confronted male and females the same way.

Hey Tyra! My name is Jessica Dunham im 22yrs old. What some women dont know is that most abusive relationships start off as really great, your guy is buying you things, taking you out and doing romantic things with you. But what you dont know its his plot to grab you up in his scheme. When a guy hits you it makes him feel more powerful and more like a man! Dont let ANY MAN put a hand on you! Hold yourself up and say im a strong independant woman and i DONT need a man that beats me up and treats me like total crap! Women you are more important than that! Dont let yourself be the victim. Leave a abusive relationship. If you stay in it then it can turn into something worse! Ive been in one and the first time he put his hands on me i was out! Just be a strong woman and say yes i do love you but im not going to let you treat me like a dog! All women are beautiful and needs a man to love them for who they are and not for wat the guy wants you to be! Just be strong and get help if you cant leave on your own! If you have kids DO ANYTHING in your power to take care of them and get them out of a bad situation cuz it can lead to your kids lives as well! Im not saying its an easy thing to leave someone who you've been with for years and are in love with..yes its going to be soooooo hard to leave but when you do you'll love yourself more and more for leaving and taking care of yourself first! Just keep your heads up high and

my name is niki and im 20 years old. what most girls dont realize about abusive relationships is that they start off even BETTER than most relationships. what im trying to say is, it seems like abusive men (before they show their real side) are the most perfect, sweet, caring, loving men out there. then when you start getting really into them, everything changes. they dont go up to you and say "hey my name is bob and i really like you.... but just to let you know one day i'll just start beating you and treating you bad.." and every situation is different. nobody, not one person, can say that it will never happen to them, that they will not let it happen to them. that you are too stubborn or smart to let it happen to you. because every woman that has ever been in an abusive relationship can tell you, that there are always different circumstances that make you feel, not obligated to stay, but it makes it hard to leave. i was in an abusive relationship, with the father of my child, and it is almost like it becomes normal, (the abuse). im not saying that it is normal, but it just stops hurting. you get used to it. at the moment that it is happening i felt like i had the strength to leave, but after talking i just couldnt get the willpower. abusive relationships is a really tough topic to talk about, especially if you're looking in from outside the box. i thank the tyra banks show for showing some signs of abusive relationships to young viewers. hopefully they take it seriously and take care of themselves, and never end up in an abusive relationship.

Hey Tyra, I'm 18 and I'm watching this episode right now and I'm crying my eyes out. I'm so truely happy the this issue is being spread to other teenage girls. Just last month I told my mom that three years ago I was raped and abused by a ex boyfriend that I was with for 3 years. I told her that I was so truely that I didn't listen to her when she told me that I should breakup with him. But of course I was a young teenage that thought she was always right. But it ended up getting to the point where I wanted to leave him but I was to scared to. I was to scared of what he'd try and do to me. I lost touch with my family and my friends during this time. I'm not out of the abusive relationship and I'm only a stronger woman.

Hi Tyra! Im 16, and i watched this show and was quite surprised by the way the girls let there boyfriends control them and put their hands on them. Im sorry but personally it wouldnt be me! I have WAY yo much respect for myself, and im WAY to stubborn to let some man or women beat me! I want to wish all the girls go luck and hope they will get out that situation and move on. Find someone who really cares and loves them without thinking it means they can control or beat them, cuz thats not true love!