(Names have been changed to protect the identity of those involved)

It is hard to describe the utter despair and agony of watching a beloved young adult child with a bright and happy future become trapped in the hellish cycle of emotional abuse. It's similar to witnessing your child being abducted or kidnapped. The inability to rescue or help that child, as you slowly watch him/her self-destruct, is a parent's worst nightmare.

There are many excellent articles, websites, and resources that can help us to understand and recognize abusive relationships. In our case, we had a strong feeling that something was very "off" in our son's relationship with his girlfriend. We saw countless red flags. But we didn't know how to express our concerns until we did a little digging and found a few websites that helped us to define, confirm, and substantiate the abnormal behavior we were observing. It was only after we fully understood what was happening, that we could help him to connect the dots; thus giving him a way out.

Introduction

Austin has always been one of those young men that everyone looked up to, both literally and figuratively. He was outgoing, kind-hearted, happy, athletic, incredibly optimistic, sincere, somewhat naive and gullible, and just plain nice. He was one of those kids who was loved and respected by almost everyone who met him. He always put his heart and soul into his work and his goals. He was transparent, respectful, approachable, loved life, and loved to make people happy. However, his trusting disposition and his desire to please others almost destroyed him. As his parents, and with Austin's permission, we hope to share his story in order to raise awareness of the dangers of emotional abuse and also to help those who have been through abusive relationships understand that there is hope at the end of the dark tunnel resulting in healing, growth, and a return to joy.

The Beginning

After high school, Austin traveled to Argentina for 2 years doing missionary work. Upon his return, he met Marcia through some common friends on Facebook. They hit it off and he was quite smitten. He spent many hours chatting with her on social media apps. As parents, we were worried from the beginning. There is always some trepidation when people meet online. We also sensed that something was just not right about this girl. After a while, Austin broke things off on his own. He said that it didn't seem right and he admitted that he felt a little suffocated by her.

Re-ignition, Romance, Increasing Speed and Intensity

The following summer, Austin flew down to Argentina to meet up with some of the friends he had met while on his mission. Marcia happened to be in one of the cities that he was visiting, and he decided to meet her in person. He had felt guilty about breaking up with her and thought he should at least give her a chance. This was the first time they had met in person. They hit it off immediately. They spent two days together. When he called home to report on his trip, he told us about Marcia and how wonderful she was. He was quite smitten. He talked of nothing else. We were a little alarmed. He wasn't acting like himself. He seemed over-the-top, almost like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince us. Rather than starting as a friendship and moving slowly towards a more intimate relationship, we noticed this relationship was already abnormally and prematurely intense. After the trip, he returned to the states, where he had an out-of-state sales job lined up that had the potential for lots of college money. During this time, he lived alone, away from home, and didn't have much contact with his family. This was a little unusual for Austin. He was normally very close to us and communicated much more. However, he was in constant phone contact with Marcia. They started talking about future plans together. He stayed up late every night talking to her. She told him that more than anything she wanted to leave her country and come to the US. Her family was broken and her country was corrupt. She needed a way out. She knew that he would help her realize her dreams. His ego was fed and he desperately wanted to help this beautiful girl out of her predicament. He told us later that during this time, he was having second thoughts about the relationship. He realized that things were not ideal. However, she convinced him that love would conquer all. He was enamored and felt that if he worked hard enough, they could make this work. Together they figured out a way for her to get a visa to move to the U.S. and study English. As parents, we were extremely concerned about what we were seeing. The relationship seemed to be speeding out of control. We also sensed a strange sense of desperation in him. He once hinted that if she couldn't come to the states, that he would drop out of school to be with her. This seemed bizarre and very unlike Austin. He was usually very level-headed. It was strange that he was committing himself so completely to someone having only spent 2 days together. He didn't seem quite like himself; something seemed "off," and it worried us.

Premature Promises

Marcia arrived in the US in October. Immediately, Austin and Marcia were inseparable. Austin had told us that he wanted to get to know Marcia better before he made any decisions. However, it seemed like the decision had already been made. This was not your regular dating (get-to-know-each other) relationship; this was more like an intense engagement. Austin felt completely responsible for Marcia. He provided all her transportation; made sure she got set up with her school. She quickly found an apartment close to Austin, so that she could spend all her free time with him. We stopped hearing much from him. He spent every spare minute with Marcia. We had a feeling that she was completely dependent on him for everything. It also seemed that his time was consumed with taking care of Marcia. We sensed that he was not doing well emotionally. He mentioned that he had been struggling with depression, which was very unlike our happy content son. Several weeks after Marcia arrived in the US, we received a phone call and Austin announced to us that they were planning on getting married in April. We hadn't yet met Marcia but felt extremely concerned. It was gut-wrenching news. We were terrified. We had seen countless red flags. We were worried about how obsessively quick the relationship had developed. We were worried about culture and language issues in their marriage. We sensed that Marcia was overly dependent on Austin and that she expected him to do everything for her. More importantly, we sensed that Austin was not truly happy. He seemed stressed. He was not himself and showed signs of serious depression. The relationship just felt somewhat forced and wrong. However, not wanting to be overly controlling parents, we tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and hoped that our concerns would resolve themselves.

First Impressions, Language Boundaries, and Hints of Control

Several of Austin's siblings attend the same university as Austin. Each of them had met Marcia, and each of them was concerned with what they saw. Austin seemed completely sucked into Marcia's world. He didn't spend time with his siblings, friends, or anyone else--besides Marcia. And his personality was slowly changing. His siblings noticed that he was trying too hard to convince everyone how happy he was. He had always been very close to his siblings and, suddenly, he hardly had any time for them. We drove out to be with our college kids for Thanksgiving. We were somewhat anxious about meeting Marcia and weren't sure what to expect. When we arrived, Austin told us that they had broken off the engagement because he didn't feel right about it. We were relieved, but still very worried about the situation.

The first thing we noticed was that she refused to speak English to any of us. She spoke only Spanish. All of her communication was directed to or through Austin . By not communicating directly with us, she made sure that her words became Austin's words. He also was unable to leave her side at any time while he was with us. Austin tried to engage us in their conversations by explaining things like, "Marcia said this" or "Marcia thinks that." However, Marcia did not seem at all interested in trying to communicate with us on her own. We could see that she clearly depended on Austin for all her communication with the outside world. That worried us, because we could see that she was using the language to isolate him from being present with those who were around him.

We later went shopping together to get some matching clothes for family pictures. Austin 's sister was in charge of picking out the shirts for everyone. She handed Austin a shirt to try on. Marcia took Austin aside, spoke to him in Spanish, after which Austin announced to us that Marcia wouldn't let him wear that shirt because it made him look pale. We were all taken somewhat aback! Why was Marcia assuming control over what Austin should wear in our family picture? We brushed it off, but it left us wondering. We sensed that Marcia wanted to show us that she was in charge and was going to call all the shots. That left us feeling uncomfortable and worried.

First Major Red Flag

Austin and Marcia joined us for our extended family Thanksgiving dinner. Austin spent most of his time entertaining Marcia and wasn't able to interact much with the rest of the family. After a while, we could tell that Marcia was upset. We mentioned to Austin to come into a separate room so we could talk to him. We explained that we had concerns about this relationship, but that we trusted him to make a good decision. While we were talking to him, he received a text from Marcia (who was upstairs). He looked at us in a panic and said, "Mom, she just broke up with me!" He started to freak out. A minute later, the door opened and Marcia poked her head in and then closed it again. Austin jumped up and followed her, motioning for us to come. We found Marcia sitting on a sofa, angrily scrolling on her phone. Austin was frantic. He was half wailing, half crying: "Mom, She's breaking up with me! I wanted to marry her! We have been looking at rings! Mom, I wanted to marry her!! What am I going to do?" The desperation in his voice was unnerving. But even more unnerving was watching Marcia sit there, unmoving, without any response, scrolling on her phone, quite pleased that she had an audience (us) to witness Austin's desperate weeping. Now and then, throughout his wailings, she would pat him on the leg, but did not take her eyes off the phone. We were blown away by the callousness. It was apparent that she was punishing him for choosing time with family over her. Austin was devastated and asked that they be taken home. Austin 's sister agreed to drive them back to their apartments. We found out that on the way home, Marcia had promptly made up with Austin . This was even more unnerving, because we could see that the sole purpose of the break-up was to control and punish Austin and to show us, his parents, that she was in charge. After this incident, we knew that Austin was in over his head and we became worried that he would become trapped in an abusive and unhealthy relationship.

Signs of Depression

We had noticed a huge change in Austin's demeanor. Instead of the happy, optimistic, and cheerful young man we were used to seeing, he seemed anxious, worried, and, at times, very withdrawn and depressed. He had struggled a little with depression before he met Marcia, but this was much more intense. He admitted to us that he had been having suicidal thoughts. When we asked him how things were going with Marcia , he always said they were fine. Yet, we could tell that they were not OK. Marcia would pout and mope and Austin would feel responsible and try harder to make her happy and also try to convince us that he was happy. There were also times when we would get together and Marcia would not join us. During those times, Austin was withdrawn and despondent. We found out afterwards that Marcia had been angry and made him feel very guilty for spending time with his family. He seemed confused and remorseful about disappointing Marcia. We tried to explain to him, that in a healthy, good relationship, he would be feeling happy; he would feel like his best possible self, not his worst. We had literally never seen him so full of doubt and worry, and so depressed.

We felt like we were losing our son, and there was nothing we could do to help him. At one point, we were able to talk to him alone. He confided in us that he felt overwhelmed and that his life was spinning out of control. We tried to explain to him that he needed to prioritize his emotional health, and that given his suicidal thoughts, he might consider withdrawing from school and coming home. We hoped that by getting a break from Marcia , that he might be able to heal and see things a little more clearly. He was clearly torn between feelings of guilt and responsibility for Marcia and needing to come home to rest and heal. We could see that he was desperate for help. He decided to withdraw on the condition that Marcia could join us for Christmas. We agreed and brought him home with us the week after Thanksgiving. The night we arrived home, he had an emotional breakdown. He literally crawled under his bed and sobbed. It took us a while to coax him out. We were so very worried about our sweet boy. He seemed completely exhausted and overwhelmed.

No Space Allowed

For the first week after Austin arrived home, we were relieved to see that he had returned to his cheerful, happy self. He seemed so relieved to have space and rest. He played with his younger siblings, spent time with friends, met with a counselor, and seemed genuinely better. We started to hope that he would be able to connect the dots and recognize that his relationship with Marcia was unhealthy. We expected to have Marcia join us a few days before Christmas and hoped that by then, Austin would be healthy enough to establish some boundaries in the relationship. However, just a few days after he arrived home, while at a friend's house, Austin texted us that Marcia would be arriving at our home in a few days (a full week and a half before expected). When we asked him about it, he seemed somewhat embarrassed. We found out later that she had insisted he pay for a plane ticket (with his meager college funds) and fly her up immediately. He took the all the blame and defended Marcia's need to be with him. However, we found out later, that he had not wanted her to come, but had felt immense pressure to do whatever she asked.

Trying Times

Marcia stayed at our home for almost 4 weeks. We were not able to communicate very much with her since she would not speak English to us and we did not know any Spanish. It was a difficult time. We tried to make her feel welcome, but it was hard. We did not dislike nor hate Marcia. In fact, we made an effort to treat her kindly. However, we definitely disapproved of the relationship. We saw countless red flags and were worried about Austin. He waited on her hand and foot. She seldom ate any of our food and insisted that he constantly drive her to the store to buy her other food. When he was not around, she stayed in her room with the door shut. She became angry that he wasn't entertaining her and showing her around the area more--when all he wanted was to be home and spend time with his family. She pouted when she didn't get her way. Austin tried so hard to get Marcia to open up and communicate more with the family. He wore himself out trying to fix everything and to make her happy. We went out of our way to make Christmas as nice as possible. We bought presents for her and tried to include her in our traditions. However, she remained unapproachable. When Austin was not living up to her expectations, she would go to her room and sulk until Austin went in to check on her. This happened on Christmas Eve. Apparently, she was upset because Austin wasn't showing her enough physical affection. Austin would go to her room and they would have "intense conversations" that would last hours. Of course, we had no idea what they were discussing, because everything was in Spanish. We noticed that Austin always seemed worn out and depressed after these conversations. We weren't sure exactly what was wrong, but we did know that things were definitely not right. This was not normal nor healthy.

Say and Want One Thing, But Do Another (Trapped Against His Will)

Even though it made Marcia angry, Austin went out of his way to connect with us during the holidays. He occasionally came into our room late at night to talk. During those times, we communicated our love and concern for him. We lovingly explained to him that we saw many red flags in the relationship and that the behavior we were observing was not normal. He seemed to understand what we were saying. He even agreed that he felt trapped in the relationship. When we talked to him, he told us that he didn't think the relationship would last. He admitted that there were major red flags. He explained to us that he would be relieved if she decided to break things off and return to Argentina. He talked about his desire to be single again. When we asked him why he couldn't break up, he explained that he just couldn't do that...not now, not during the holidays. He wanted her to have a nice Christmas. He told us that when Christmas was over and they were back at school, that he would create some space, set some boundaries, and possibly break up.

However, when it was time to return to school, things started to escalate. Because he had sold his apartment contract, Austin needed a place to live. We found him a few inexpensive, close-to-campus apartments with short leases (ones that ended when school was out). However, unbeknownst to us, Marcia had found him an apartment directly across the street from her own. It was more expensive, since it was a private room, with a much longer lease (through the summer) and further away from campus. Austin was clearly excited about the cheaper options that we had found for him, but was noticeably worried about what Marcia would think. We reminded him that he had set a goal of creating some space and setting some boundaries and that this should be his decision, not hers. He agreed and decided to take the apartment.

When Austin explained to Marcia that he was going to take the cheaper and closer-to-campus apartment instead of the one across the street from her, she became irate. She kept him in her room for 2 hours. We could hear crying, some yelling, and lots of angry and intense talking. When Austin emerged, he was visibly broken. His only words to us, before he went to bed, were "I feel so lost and confused." This was such an awful, gut-wrenching time for us, as parents. We could see the anguish that Austin was enduring, yet we felt so helpless.

The next morning, the college kids, including Austin and Marcia, drove back to school. On the way, Marcia cried and pouted. Austin was dropped off at his grandparent's house and was extremely depressed and withdrawn. He locked himself in his room. His grandparents couldn't believe the change in Austin. They had never before seen him depressed or distraught. They were shaken by the change in their grandson. Marcia was dropped off at her apartment. We called Austin to check on him. We found out that Marcia had been calling and texting him, threatening suicide, explaining that by leaving her alone with her terrible depression, Austin was putting her at terrible risk and abandoning her. Marcia's relentless guilt-trips and threats compelled Austin to take the apartment that she had selected for him. He seemed extremely depressed and somewhat ashamed of his choice. We could see that he just did not have the strength to oppose Marcia or go against her will. As parents, we were terrified at what was happening to our sweet son. The suicide threats, the break-up threats, the pouting, the anger, the guilt...it was too much for him.. We could see that she was using his compassionate nature as a weapon to control and destroy him. He seemed incapable of putting up and maintaining the needed boundaries. We knew he needed and wanted help, but he was unable to take the life-lines that we were continually throwing out to him. He was just too weak and too susceptible to her controlling threats.

Constant Surveillance/Control and Irrational Jealousy

As parents, we were frantic to reach our son. We wrote him an email, begging him to open his eyes to the situation. We weren't aware of Marcia's constant surveillance at this point. We didn't know that she was in complete control of his phone and his computer. She read all his messages, monitored his Facebook activity, his Whatsapp, his emails, and even his browsing history on both his phone and computer. We knew that she was controlling Austin, but we weren't aware that she was monitoring his every move--both physical and virtual. Because she saw us as a major threat to her claim and her control over Austin, our email to him enraged her, which led to a huge fight between them. The fight, in turn, made Austin's life miserable and kept him from reaching out or involving us in his life. He was literally in survival mode and just couldn't take on any more stress. All of his efforts went into keeping the peace with Marcia.

His siblings were very concerned. They would call home, very worried about Austin because his whole personality had changed so much. They tried to talk to him, but Marcia was always there. When we called him on the phone, she was always listening. When we sent him messages, she always read them. He was literally unreachable.

We also were not aware at the time, that in addition to going to work with him, she also followed him to his classes and monitored every interaction that he had with other people, especially other girls. If she noticed that he even looked at a girl, she would become irate, stalk the girl on Facebook and confront him about his unfaithfulness and make him feel like a terrible person. In fact, after seeing him look at a girl in his biology class, she blew up, stalked the girl, confronted her, and didn't allow him to ever attend that class unless she was able to accompany him. He ended up almost failing the class because he could only attend class when she felt like going.

Austin was made to account for every minute spent away from Marcia. She timed him between walking to and from work. She made sure that he was checking in with her upon his arrival. If she called and he didn't answer, she would become irate. She suspected that he was cheating on her at every turn. At one point, they were ordering food at McDonald's and she saw him look at the girl in the drive-through, who was handing him the food. She became irate and chucked her drink at him and soaked him.

In order to keep him in line, she would tell him that he was becoming just like her terrible ex-boyfriend. Sometimes, she would bring up all the men that she thought would love to be with her. She would even threaten to have sex with these men if he was ever unfaithful to her.

Crazy-Making Fights and Self Harm

After a while, the fights with Marcia made Austin feel absolutely crazy. Her arguments were irrational and demeaning. She would always circle back to what a terrible person he was and how she couldn't trust him. She would make him feel guilty by listing all the things she had done for him and would point out all the ways in which he had failed to live up to his responsibilities. She constantly threatened to break up and leave (but never did). They would yell and scream at each other--which is something Austin had never done. He was not raised around any yelling and screaming. This type of violent fighting was so foreign to him, that he was confused and felt like his sanity was going to snap. He found himself willing to do almost anything in order to avoid the fights. However, Marcia was literally impossible to please. No matter what he did or how he behaved, she would find a way to blame him and make him feel worthless. The fights were constant. He felt completely trapped. He often tried to leave during these fights, but she would stand in front of the door, threatening to call the police.

Because he could never win these illogical and crazy fights, he would try to escape by hurting himself. He would hit his head against walls and furniture, hoping to blackout. He would slap himself, just to feel the pain. Any time we tried to reach out to Austin, Marcia would get angry. In her mind, we were racist, evil people who were out to control Austin and ruin a loving relationship. Whenever Austin defended his family or tried to reach out to us, she became irate and jealous and would say awful and terrible things about his siblings and us, his parents. She told him often that she wanted to punch our faces. She took one of his family pictures and tore our faces out. These fights became so stressful, that Austin stopped responding to his family, even to the point of becoming angry with us whenever we tried to reach him because every contact with us resulted in an awful fight with Marcia. He said that at one point, he even started telling Marcia that he hated his family because by telling her the things she wanted to hear, he was able to have some peace and avoid her anger. After one particular fight, he became so upset that he punched a concrete wall and broke his hand. This disqualified him from competing as an athlete. His athletic career (he was a Division 1 collegiate athlete), which had been so incredibly important to him and for which he had worked so hard, was in jeopardy. Marcia wanted him to quit his sport and resented any time he spent training. She constantly made him feel as if he had to choose between his sport and her. And unless he chose her, he was a bad person. As parents, we were very concerned as we observed Austin becoming apathetic about something he used to be so passionate about.

Because Austin would often act out, sometimes hitting things and sometimes hurting himself after fights, Marcia would tell him that he was bipolar and mentally unstable and would threaten to call the police and put him in the hospital. She attributed his behavior to a preexisting mental illness and tried to convince him that she was there to help him. She also claimed that his family was the major cause of his stress and that if the family would just leave him alone, things would work out. She was (and is) incapable of conceiving the fact that her emotional abuse was the cause of his mental breakdowns. He was literally her prisoner. During this time, he lost weight (over 40 pounds), was often sick, and was extremely depressed and hopeless. He felt like he was going crazy and often had thoughts of just ending it all.

Dark Times

This was a very dark time for us since Austin had completely shut out his family. He wouldn't respond to texts or calls. We couldn't send him emails because we didn't trust that he would keep any message private. At one point, his sister convinced him to come over to her apartment. While there, she had Austin read a message from us on her own computer. It was a plea for him to consider the fact that he was not doing well emotionally and that we saw signs of his relationship with Marcia being quite unhealthy. We were careful not to attack Marcia but focused our comments on our concerns for his mental and emotional health. However, the letter made him angry. He stormed out of his sister's apartment, which left his sister sobbing. This was so unlike Austin. He had never blown up at anyone in our family. (He later told us that he was angry because he could see the truth of our letter but felt trapped. He also knew that he would have to tell Marcia about it and that she would be furious and make his life miserable.) We started to give up hope that we would ever get him back. This was a dark and hopeless time for us as his family. We literally felt like we had lost the precious boy we loved so much. His mind had been hijacked, his personality changed, and his life destroyed. The pain and anguish we felt were unbearable.

Tough News

During this time, we had almost no contact with Austin. We were extremely distraught and panicky as we saw our son slipping away from us. Our beautiful, happy, outgoing, faithful, bright, trusting, funny boy had withered up and died, and in his place was an empty, depressed, illogical shell of a man. It was surreal. And the worst part was that we were completely helpless. Nothing we did or said seemed to have an impact. We didn't understand how this could be happening. We sensed that the situation was becoming worse. It felt dark and wrong. Knowing that our attempts to reach him had made him angry and seemed to have distanced him from us, we tried giving him some space. Everything we read regarding abuse victims told us that we could not force him to leave her and that we should let him make the first move. However, even though we were no longer reaching out to him as much, our feelings of panic and helplessness did not subside. In fact, the worry and feeling of dread only intensified. Then, to our horror, we received a message from Austin stating that he and Marcia planned on getting married in a few weeks. This didn't make sense. Austin had told us several times that he did not want to marry Marcia so soon. We had talked extensively during Christmas and he had admitted that the relationship was unhealthy. In our desperation, we sent him a last-ditch email, begging him to reconsider and expressing our love for him, and pointing out the many red flags that we saw, To our utter dismay, he responded the next day with a short email, informing us that our letter was too late and that Marcia was pregnant. That day, our world came crashing down. The realization that our sweet son was now permanently trapped in this toxic abusive relationship was gut-wrenching. Until this point, we still had hope that he would "see" the abuse and somehow find the strength to leave. However, once we received news of the pregnancy, we literally lost all hope. We grieved the loss of our son and the fact that his innocent child would be born into such an unstable and volatile situation.

Complete Submission: Anything for Peace

Austin explained to us, that in order to survive, he gave in to all of Marcia's demands, emotionally, physically, and financially. Whenever he put up boundaries, she would feel threatened and all of her energy would be channeled into making sure those barriers were removed so that she could regain complete control. If he didn't submit, she would make his life a living hell until he did. He was so broken and beaten, that he just didn't have the strength nor the energy to deal with her jealousy, her distrust, her anger, and the ensuing fights. He was constantly required to prove his love to her by spending every waking moment with her, constantly entertaining her, promising that he would never leave her, paying for expensive items (her housing, her schooling, her clothing, and her food, etc.) and, through physical intimacy. The latter went against his very core beliefs. He knew that it was wrong. He hated the situation, but he also didn't know how to escape. All he cared about was keeping the peace and avoiding fights. He later explained to us that he was literally in survival mode. Yes, of course, physical attraction and hormones played a big part in his situation, Marcia was attractive and there was a lot of temptation. However, sex before marriage was against his core beliefs. In fact, he sought the help of his ecclesiastical leader and tried to set up boundaries. But whenever Marcia sensed boundaries, she punished Austin and made his life a living hell; after which he eventually relented to the pressure even though he knew it was wrong. This was something, that under normal, healthy circumstances, he never would have considered. In fact, up until he met Marcia, he had never even kissed a girl. His self-confidence, self-worth, and self-concept had been slowly eroded over months of abuse so that Austin eventually lost touch with his core values. Out of necessity for survival and to find relief from her crazy-making anger, he gave up on defending his own values and allowed Marcia to dictate his actions and behavior.

Hopelessness and Stark Contrasts

The news of Marcia's pregnancy literally shook us to the core. We felt like our world had fallen apart. We had seen Marcia pout, get angry, threaten to leave, threaten self-harm, and even threaten suicide to make sure that Austin stayed under her control. We knew that she was very angry that Austin continued to postpone marriage. However, we did not expect her to stoop to this level in order to ensure that he would be forced to marry her. There was just no way out of it now. We had to accept the fact that we were going to lose our son. He tried to put on a happy face. He tried and failed, to convince us that he was excited about his upcoming marriage. Austin tried his hardest to make things work. Even in this horrendous situation, our sweet Austin was trying to make the best of it. He wanted to be responsible and do what was right. Even though he was in this terribly abusive situation, he assumed complete responsibility. He desperately wanted to prove that he had some sort of control over the situation. He reached out to his ecclesiastical leader and sought support and help. He explained to us that he and Marcia were seeing a marriage counselor and working things out. Even the counselor advised Austin to call off the wedding. He confided to Austin in private that the relationship was not healthy or stabil.

The news about Marcia's pregnancy came just one week before our daughter's wedding. This daughter's relationship with her fiancé was everything that Austin and Marcia's relationship was not. Our daughter's relationship was full of joy and excitement. She and her fiancé had a very healthy and beautiful relationship. We had never seen her happier. They brought out the best in each other. In contrast, Austin's relationship with Marcia brought out the absolute worst in him. We had never seen him more miserable. We had been planning Austin's sister's wedding for months. We now tried to throw together a quick wedding for Austin and Marcia just weeks after his sister's wedding. We were so incredibly happy for Austin's sister because of the love and joy that literally radiated from her and her new husband. The contrast between our daughter's wedding and the wedding that we were now planning for Austin and Marcia was heartbreaking. We sensed absolutely no joy, no hope, no love...just desperation, lost dreams, and despair. However, we tried to make the best of it. We started planning out the details of the wedding. We worked with Austin's church leader to find a place for the wedding, a dress, decorations, etc. Even though we only had two weeks to plan, we wanted to make the wedding as nice and as memorable as possible. But, the contrast from the joyful wedding we had just experienced, left us devoid of joy and hope. We forced smiles through our tears and faced the inevitable.

Wedding Called Off

Just five days before the scheduled wedding, we called Austin to check on him. We were in the middle of planning the wedding and had some questions regarding decorations and other details. He still had not found an apartment for them to live in, he wasn't sure how things were going to work out financially, and we sensed that he was extremely stressed and very unhappy. At the time, we still had no idea just how volatile, contentious, and even violent their relationship had become. He admitted that he was feeling overwhelmed and very stressed. One of Austin's close friends had recently told us that Austin had confided to him that he did not want to marry Marcia. Upon hearing this news, we let Austin know that there was no pressure to rush into this wedding. We assured him that the plane tickets we bought were of no consequence. We told him that if he was extremely stressed, he could postpone the wedding until a later date. We felt like he was looking for an "out." The next day, he called and announced to us that he and Marcia had decided to postpone the wedding until they felt more prepared. And so we waited....but the wedding was never rescheduled. We weren't sure what to think. We tried not to get our hopes up. We weren't sure what was going on in Austin's mind. But we did know that he did not want to marry Marcia. We also feared, however, that he did not know how to get out of the relationship.

Pretend Marriage and Strange Future Plans

A few weeks later, Austin announced to us that Marcia had decided to fly back to Argentina to have her baby. She was miserable living in the United States and wanted to be with her family. Her plan was to have Austin fly down to Argentina with her and stay for a month. She wanted the two of them to live with her family (under the pretense of already being married). Because he would be unable to work and earn money in Argentina, she decided that Austin would then return to the U.S. after a month or so and work the rest of the summer in the U.S. The plan was for him to return to Argentina a few months before the baby was born and stay there until the end of the year. At this point, their future plans became more vague. She talked about having him return to college, and that she would then join him in the US again; at which point, they would consider marriage again. She had already announced to all of her family and friends in Argentina that she and Austin were already married. She even asked to borrow a dress so that they could take 'fake' wedding pictures. Thankfully, the dress owner talked her out of this. She also insisted that Austin change his social media status to "married" so that she could convince even more people that they were already married. When we saw the change in his Facebook status, we panicked at first and worried that they had eloped. However, Austin called and assured us that he was still single and that it was all Marcia's idea to try and convince everyone in Argentina that she was married.

Wake Up and Cry for help

With the recent wedding postponement (cancellation), we started to hope that maybe Austin was emerging from the surreal, mind-altering oppression he seemed to have been under for the past 6-9 months. We noticed that Marcia's iron grip on Austin was lessening. Austin stopped making excuses for and defending Marcia's irrational behaviors. Instead, he admitted that her behavior was unreasonable and unhealthy. At one point, we received a phone call, where he told us that he didn't think the relationship would work out. He told us that they fought a lot. Then, one night, around 2:00 am, we received another phone call. As we held the phone to our ear, we could hear Austin wailing. He told us, amid sobs, that Marcia was breaking up with him. We were alarmed because he sounded so distraught and frenzied. We weren't sure what to say, since we assumed that Marcia was close by. So, we asked him if he was alone. He repeatedly assured us that he was alone and that Marcia was not around. Then he asked: "Are you happy and relieved that she's leaving me?" We answered that we weren't feeling happy at all, but that we were very concerned about his mental health and stability. We then heard Marcia angrily speaking Spanish in the background. We were stunned. He had lied to us! We asked him what was going on. He told us that they were having a major fight and that he had lied so that Marcia would be able to hear our reactions. He wanted to prove to Marcia that we weren't the monsters that she made us out to be. It turned out they were actually in the middle of a very heated and explosive fight. During the fight, Austin kept us on the phone. We could hear Marcia yelling at him in Spanish. He translated most of what she was saying. At one point, he started telling us what a terrible person he was and that Marcia deserved so much better because he had looked at another girl while they were on campus. (He later told us that he said those things because he knew that it was what she wanted to hear and that he would say anything to appease her.) Then she'd start screaming again and he'd translate for us: "Mom, she says she hates you so much. She says you're evil. Now she's mocking the way you talk." He would then say things back to her (keeping us on the phone) and they would yell back and forth at each other. We sat there in bed completely stunned for several hours as we listened to the awful fight. We couldn't understand most of it, because it was in Spanish. Then we heard a door slam. Austin then told us that she had run out and that he needed to check on her to make sure she was OK...and he hung up. At this point, it was 4:00 am and we were very concerned about their safety. Neither of them was in a safe mental state. We tried calling back but got no answer. We texted and told Austin that unless he responded, we would call the police. He finally called us and told us that he was back in his apartment. The entire phone call was a very surreal and disturbing experience, and it took us a while to process everything we had experienced. We realized that Austin was desperate and that the phone call was his cry for help. He called because he needed to have someone he loved and trusted witness Marcia's crazy-making, irrational, and explosive verbal abuse. The next morning, he called us again. This time he was alone and calm. He explained to us in more detail what had happened. He knew that his relationship with Marcia was extremely unhealthy and he said that he didn't think it would work out. He had said this before. But this time, we could clearly see that he wanted out, even though he did not yet have the strength to exit on his own.

Increased Tension

The situation was coming to a head. It was only days before Austin and Marcia's scheduled flights to Argentina. The tension and gut-wrenching anxiety we were feeling, as parents, was almost unbearable. Everyone who knew and loved Austin was extremely worried about his decision to fly to Argentina with Marcia. We were sure that if he flew down to Argentina (under the pretense of already being married), it would be found out that they were not married and that he would surely cave to pressure from Marcia's family and marry her against his will. He had told us repeatedly that he did not want to and would not marry her. But ever since he had been in a relationship with Marcia, we had seen him repeatedly break commitments (even promises that he made to himself). We were also worried that she might find a way to keep him in Argentina indefinitely. But mostly, we were worried that he might commit suicide. If he got on that plane, we weren't sure if we would ever see him again. He was not acting like himself (and he hadn't been acting like himself ever since Marcia arrived in the U.S.) The longer the relationship lasted, the more altered and depressed he became. We could clearly see that he felt trapped, and we had a very justified fear that he was on the verge of resorting to desperate measures to get out of his situation. He had admitted to having suicidal thoughts. He repeatedly told us that he did not want to go to Argentina, but he also told us that he had no choice...that he had to go. Just three days before the scheduled flight, Austin called home. He was in good spirits and told us that he knew he shouldn't go and that he was going to find a way to break the news to Marcia. We felt somewhat relieved, but we knew how much control Marcia had. We had yet to see him stand up to her. We feared that Marcia would probably change his mind.

The next day, we received another phone call. This time Austin was hysterical. He was sobbing uncontrollably. Apparently, Marcia had found out that he had called home the previous day (by checking his phone call log) and became irate that Austin had reached out to his family. A fight ensued, and in her anger, she started hitting and slapping him, giving him a black eye in the process. He was lying on the bed, as she attacked him. As he pushed her off of himself, she claimed that he hurt her stomach. She immediately accused him of killing their baby. (By the way, she later fully admitted in writing that she knew that he had no intention of hurting her or the baby and that he was acting in his self-defense.) However, at the time, she was infuriated, and she threatened to call the police and have him arrested. It was at this point that he called home. He was literally inconsolable. He kept saying what an awful, terrible person he was. He told us that his life was ruined. He told us that Marcia deserved so much better. He kept sobbing, "What if I killed my baby?" He did not see a way out of his situation. His mental state was becoming precarious. We tried to calm him down. We then called one of his sisters, Marie, and asked her to go and check on him and Marcia. When she arrived, she found both Austin and Marcia in an extremely agitated state. Marcia was very angry that Marie had come and threatened to punch her if she didn't leave. Marcia told Austin that if he didn't make his sister leave, she (Marcia) might become so upset that she could have a miscarriage. So, Austin told his sister to leave. Marie called home and reported what had happened. She was extremely shaken, in tears, and very afraid for her brother's safety. Later, Austin's other sister, Ann, dropped by to check on him. By then, Austin and Marcia had been to the doctor to check on the baby. Everything was fine. Ann was able to talk to Austin alone. Austin assured her that he knew that this relationship was toxic and that he would try to get out of his trip to Argentina. He reassured Ann that he did not want to go. Ann and Austin made a plan to have Austin hand his passport over to her so that he would not be able to board the plane the following day. After Austin left, Ann called us with the good news, and we started to hope for the best. However, an hour later, Ann called us back--this time in tears. She told us that Austin had gone back into his apartment to talk to Marcia and that after 30 minutes, he had come back out, his shoulders slumped, and had told her that he was very sorry, but that he had to fly to Argentina. He had no choice. He had promised Marcia that he would go with her and he couldn't go back on that promise. Ann called us, sobbing, "We're losing him!"

Rescue

We knew that Austin needed help. We had to do everything in our power to keep him from boarding his flight to Argentina the next day. It was decided that his mother, Chris, would make the 14-hour drive to Austin's apartment and figure out a way to convince him to not leave the country. Everyone was extremely worried about Austin's safety. We couldn't sleep at all that night and Chris decided to start driving well before dawn. While driving, she called Austin's sister, Ann, and sent her over to check on Austin first thing in the morning. We were hoping that Ann would find Austin alone and that she would have a chance to talk to him. However, Ann called back to say that Austin was not alone (Marcia was in the apartment), but that she would still try to find a way to talk to Austin. After that, we didn't hear anything for a few hours. We didn't know what had happened, and we were all feeling extremely helpless and scared. The only comfort we had was that each hour of driving was bringing Chris closer to our son. Chris finally called our other daughter, Marie, to see if she had any news about the situation. When Marie answered, Chris could tell that she was upset. Marie's first words were, "Mom, so much has happened!" She then proceeded to tell Chris that Austin was in the hospital. Marie then explained to Chris what had happened:

Apparently, when Ann had arrived at Austin's apartment, Marcia and Austin were in the middle of another fight. Marcia was irate that Ann had come over, and she told Austin to send Ann away. Austin tried to console Marcia by telling her, in Spanish, that he didn't want Ann there; however, Austin refused to tell Ann to leave. When both Austin and Ann tried to leave the apartment together; Marcia pulled Austin back into the apartment, while attempting to push Ann out. Ann was able to squeeze back into the room and sat determinedly on the sofa. She was not going to leave Austin's side. Marcia was furious and threatened to punch Ann; and when Ann still refused to leave, she assaulted Ann, hitting her on the side of the head and scratching her. Austin couldn't bear the sight of his sister being attacked and pulled Marcia off of Ann. This enraged Marcia even more. She screamed at Austin, accusing him of caring about his sister more than her. Marcia's rage and her attack on his sister were too much for Austin. He finally snapped: Feeling completely trapped and frenzied, he raged through the apartment, punching holes in walls and doors. He then fled out the door, barefoot, and ran into the street. Ann, who had recently received suicide training through her work, immediately called 911 and explained that her brother was suicidal. When Austin returned to the apartment, an officer met him, cuffed him, put him in his car, and drove him to the hospital.

Marie explained to her mother that she was on her way to the hospital and that she would call as soon as she had some more news. We were filled with trepidation. Chris was still 8 hours away. She was making the drive by herself, and she was having a hard time containing her fears. What if Marcia was able to contact Austin in the hospital? What if the hospital released him before Chris arrived in town? If he left the hospital, he would be back in Marcia's control. Austin and Marcia's flight was scheduled for the next day. What if they couldn't stop Austin from boarding the plane? Chris called the hospital asking about Austin. For privacy reasons, they were not able to release any information. Finally, after much prodding, they explained that IF someone had been brought in on suicide watch, that they would be held in total isolation, and that no one would be able to contact that person. They also informed us that such individuals also have their phones confiscated. This news was extremely comforting because it meant that Marcia would not be able to contact Austin while he was in the hospital. We didn't know how long he would be held in the psychiatric unit. But as long as they held him, he would be safe; and for that, we were very grateful.

Later in the day (while Chris was still driving), Austin's sisters and a few other family members were allowed to meet with Austin's doctor at the hospital. As parents, we were able to call in and participate in the meeting. The doctor recognized that Austin had been in a severely abusive relationship which had caused intense trauma-induced anxiety and a mental breakdown. He assured us that he thought Austin would recover but advised that Austin have no contact with Marcia for a long time. He assured us that Austin would not be released that day, but would probably be transferred to another hospital. This was the best news we could possibly have received. For the time being, Austin was safe.

Marcia's Departure

Apparently, when Austin had run out of the apartment, Marcia also had called the police. We were grateful that the police had already been dispatched from Ann's call. After Austin was taken away by the officer, Ann contacted her sister Marie; and they, together with their husbands and aunt, drove to the hospital to inquire after Austin. Marcia desperately reached out via text to Ann and Marie, apologizing for her aggressive behavior, telling them that the reason she had attacked, threatened, and assaulted them was because of her intense love for Austin. Marcia was frantic and upset. She was clearly scared and wanted information about Austin's condition. Ann tried to comfort Marcia, but refused to divulge much information about him, other than explaining that Austin was sick and that we did not know how long he would be hospitalized and in isolation. Our first priority was Austin's safety. Our biggest worry was that Marcia might not get on the plane without Austin. We knew that unless she boarded the plane that we would be back at ground zero, and Austin would continue to be trapped in this toxic and abusive relationship. We did everything in our power to encourage Marcia to board her flight the next day. Ann and Marie helped her pack up her belongings, helped her with her laundry, comforted her, and even arranged to drive her to the airport the following evening. Of course, we felt bad for Marcia. She was visibly upset. We realized that she was incapable of understanding just how much damage she had inflicted on Austin and our family. We don't think she was able to recognize just how abusive and controlling she had been. Ann reported that Marcia had admitted that she was looking forward to going home. That was a relief. We all knew that until she and Austin were separated, neither of them would be able to heal. It is difficult to describe the amount of anxiety and tension we felt as we all waited for the news that Marcia had arrived at the airport, checked her baggage, and had walked through the security gate. It seemed as though all of us--parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, uncles, aunts, friends and loved ones--were holding our breath, waiting for the news that Marcia had finally left the country. The relief we experienced, once the plane was in the air, was indescribable and exhilarating!

Packing Up

As soon as Marcia was on the plane, Chris, Marie, and some other close relatives drove to Austin's apartment to pack up all of his belongings. When they arrived at Austin's apartment, they found it unlocked. His apartment-mates had moved out several weeks prior and he had been living there alone with Marcia. The apartment was in a state of being packed up in preparation for Austin and Marcia's trip to Argentina. Just as described to us by Ann, they found the holes that Austin had punched in the walls and the closet door that he had ripped off the previous morning. As they started to pack up all of Austin's things, they began to find notes from Marcia. She had written strange and bizarre notes all over his belongings. She had written notes with permanent marker on towels and pictures. She had written notes on the cover and in pages his books and notebooks. They found notes wrapped in his underwear and clothes and toiletries. She had stuffed notes in every nook and cranny imaginable. In addition, she had saturated certain items, like sheets, clothing, and pillows with perfume. The entire apartment reeked with her perfume. Most of the notes begged Austin to join her in Argentina as soon as possible; warned Austin that his family would try to separate them; and other notes simply proclaimed her love for Austin. In some of the notes, she said that she was sorry for her behavior and begged him to forgive her. Her desperation was unnerving and disturbing. Being in the apartment, where her son had suffered so much trauma, was difficult for Chris and those who were helping. It was a relief to finally clean everything out and shut the door on that horrific chapter of Austin's life.

Hospital Release

The day Marcia was scheduled to fly back to Argentina, we were able to locate Austin and talk to him on the phone. He had been moved to a different hospital. It was a relief to hear his voice. He sounded tired but OK. The doctor had told him that he was not mentally ill and was well enough to be released but thought it best not to release him until Marcia left the country. We were extremely grateful that the doctor was able to recognize the severity of the abuse and that he was willing to keep Austin at the hospital for another day. Chris arranged to see Austin that evening during the visiting hour. She was extremely nervous about this visit because she was not sure if Austin would want to return to his abusive relationship with Marcia or not. Chris was not prepared for the sight of her son in his hospital clothes. He looked broken. He was thin (he had lost over 40 pounds during the ordeal), his hand was in a brace, and he had a black eye (which Marcia had given him a few days earlier). However, he also looked so extremely happy to see her. To Chris's relief, after their initial embrace, Austin expressed his wish to not have any more contact with Marcia. He went to the nurse station and asked them to hand over his personal items, including his phone, to Chris. He then wrote down all of his passwords to his email and social media platforms. He instructed Chris to take his phone and to remove the social media platforms and messages from his phone. Chris was extremely relieved. She had expected and had feared some resistance from Austin about having no contact. It was extremely comforting to see that he was acutely aware that this had been a toxic relationship and that he was finally finding the strength to escape. Austin was clearly terrified of having any contact with Marcia.

The day after Marcia's departure, Chris returned to the hospital for Austin's discharge. Austin was anxiously waiting for her behind the locked psychiatric unit doors. The first question out of his mouth was: "Did she leave? Did she get on the plane?" When Chris answered in the affirmative, the relief seemed to sweep over his entire body and he just slumped into a chair. Then he and Chris embraced. After meeting with the physician and completing the necessary paperwork, Austin was able to leave the hospital with Chris. It felt strangely similar to a hostage release. We were finally getting our son back. We were overjoyed.

As soon as Austin and Chris go into the car, it was as if someone uncorked a bottle. He just started talking non-stop. The things that he was telling Chris were so unbelievable and horrendous, that Chris decided to record everything he was saying on her phone. The following day, Austin and Chris drove the 14 hours back to their home. Austin was exhausted and slept much of the way. When he was awake, he told more and more stories, which Chris continued to record. The transcripts of these recordings can be found at: In Austin's Words.

Recovery

We were thrilled to have Austin back home with us. The relief of knowing that he was free from the manipulative and emotional abuse was comforting. However, initially, his mental state was in a very fragile condition. He slept most of the first week that he was home. Once he started to recover physically, he began meeting with a therapist regularly. It was a slow recovery. It took a while for his appetite to return and for him to start gaining the weight that he had lost. There were many triggers that set him off. It took time for him and for us to be able to identify those triggers and deal with them. Sometimes, he seemed to be progressing well. For a while, he wanted to talk openly about his experiences. He would often come into our room and talk until late in the night. This helped him to process and deal with the trauma. It was also reassuring to us, as parents, to have him share his experiences as he tried to make sense of the surreal events he had endured. He also spent time reading books about emotional abuse. This also helped him tremendously. However, he then went through a phase of depression, where he didn't want to talk to anyone. He spent hours just sitting in a semi-trance-like state, not wanting to be disturbed, and just staring into space. As parents, we were heartbroken to experience our son's suffering. We did everything we could to protect him from all direct contact with Marcia since any contact from her was his most damaging trigger. However, she continued to stalk him on every platform imaginable. She contacted many of his friends and told them that Austin still loved her and that his parents were brainwashing him and keeping him away from her. Marcia had sent our family and friends hundreds of messages, desperately trying to establish private and direct communication with Austin. She knew that without direct communication, she would lose the control that she had held for so long over him. We blocked her from all of our email and social media accounts and provided her with a single email that she could use to communicate with us. However, it upset her that we were not giving her private access to Austin. She did not want his family to be privy to her emails. On several occasions, she actually found a way to contact him directly. One one occasion, she deceived him into thinking she was someone else and was able to make voice contact. After hearing her voice and having a short conversation, he spiraled into a deep depression for weeks. When he recovered from that depressive state, he worked on making sure that she was blocked on every platform imaginable. It felt like we had a son in a governmental witness protection program. Our primary goal for the following year was to keep him safe so that he could heal.

With his counselor, who has extensive experience with adoption, Austin came up with an adoption plan for his daughter. He sent the plan to Marcia via her ecclesiastical leader. Austin was and continues to be very concerned about his daughter's well-being and future, and hoped that she could be placed in a loving and stable home with both a father and a mother. However, Marcia adamantly rejected this plan and accused him of wanting to abandon his daughter. She sent many emails to Austin via his family which were full of threats, accusations, and ultimatums. Our entire family was experiencing PTSD each time any of us received one of Marcia's emails. These emails continued for months. However, by setting very firm boundaries, we have been able to create the space needed for each of us to heal from the extensive trauma we had experienced.

Future

Going forward, Austin continues to have limited contact with Marcia. He supports his daughter through monthly payments, which he and Marcia have agreed upon with the help of a lawyer. He hopes to establish a closer relationship with his daughter once she is able to communicate with him independently of Marcia. He continues to write letters to his daughter, in which he expresses his love and concern for her. At this point, he knows that he cannot participate with Marcia in raising his daughter, as he does not feel safe having any direct contact with Marcia. As grandparents, we also hope to have a relationship with our granddaughter someday. We continue to send letters and gifts. Although this has been an extremely difficult and heart-wrenching experience for everyone involved, we wish Marcia the best and hope that she receives the help she needs to be able to provide a loving and safe home for our granddaughter. The most beautiful and hopeful part of this experience has been witnessing the miraculous healing that has taken place in Austin's life since his break-up. We have seen him return to his familiar, happy, funny, outgoing, compassionate self. We see him excited about his hobbies, his friends, his family, his job, his studies, and his future. This experience changed him. And, through the grace of God, he has emerged a stronger and wiser young man.