I'm a newlywed currently going through a rough time in my marriage. My husband and have known each other for years and got married at the end of last year. I was uprooting my life to a different state to be with him to build our future. But shortly(very shortly) after marriage things soured. Suddenly he was judging and critiquing my character. That I needed to change. That I had to have a total psychological breakthrough to become a better person. I started questioning everything about myself, thinking maybe he was right. I did have a history of being strong willed, stubborn,and self reliant, maybe I did need to change. He wasn't yelling what I should work on, but "gently" suggesting it...everyday. I felt my spirit breaking down, but he insisted that I was having a breakthrough.Trying to get clarity, I turn to my mother and two best friends for advice. All of them said the same thing, that I was in an emotionally abusive relationship. But how could that be? I knew what abuse was, in all forms. How could I have married an "abuser" and not know it? How is it that it I can't see the abuse, but they can so clearly? He doesn't call me vile and hurtful names, he's never laid a hand on me. So how can they see this as abuse? Don't newlyweds go through a rough patch in the first year?