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I've just never understood why people hang in there, but especially blokes

Why especially blokes?

I would have thought that this sort of opinion is not going to help the situation.

Just because we usually don't get that emotional about things that we would hang on to something that was clearly bad for all concerned.

A lot of the women were abused in the past, and prefer to get the first blow in new relationships. They clearly need help. Though more male refuges will clearly help.

Been there, done that... Had to rebuild my life afterward. Now I am in a good, happy relationship.

It is the emotional blackmail which keeps one in a relationship, even if you know it is bad for you. My bad relationship was psychological abuse, it lead to a breakdown, which took a long time to recover from.

I was lucky, my brother was rushed to hospital and I went to visit him, I got an ear bashing about not caring about my girlfriend, when I rang her on the way back to my place and couldn't reach her, so I left a voicemail (23:30). She rang back at 3 in the morning to rant at me about being uncaring.

She said, "you don't care about me."
After the stress of the relationship, which I knew was destructive and then having to deal with my brother nearly dieing, I said, "you know what? You are right!" Hung up, disconnected the telephone and switched off my mobile and managed to get a decent nights sleep.

The next morning, my mother said "welcome back." I looked much better and was more my old self.

Some people just don't get that kick back into reality and for those that are suffering physical abuse, I should think the situation is much worse.

I have been very lucky to avoid such an event, but I would walk if I was ever put in such a position. I have relationships with friends were we can discuss anything and if they said dump her then I would.

Wait until you've actually been there.

It is incredibly hard to walk away, especially when it is psychological abuse. They are masters of emotional blackmail.

Like Big_D I've been on the psychological end of that type of thing and in my case it seeped into the relationship quietly over time. I stayed, with promises of better things and good times ahead, apologies and protestations of undying love, for 13 years before finally getting enough courage and self-respect to leave. The second time I only put up with the issues for 1 year before bailing out and am now in the perfect relationship of love and mutual respect.

I was (eerily) having this conversation with my Mister last evening. I've been reading an account of the family history of one of my friends birth mothers after she found her real mother last month. It's really good, but incredibly hard reading, my friends mother endured some amazing treatment at the hands of her husband and still loved him right to the end of his life.

Having been in that kind of astmosphere but not had the physical abuse (which heals much faster than the psychological stuff) I'd like to say that I don't think I'd put up with it, but I can't say for sure.