Is there anything more annoying than that couple you know who are always grossly engaging in excessive PDA? You know—the ones who can’t keep their hands off one another and are always so touchy-feely it makes everyone around them uncomfortable? Sadly there is. What’s worse is the guy who is a total overbearing boyfriend to his girl.

Your cell phone, IM, and online profile are all digital extensions of who you are. When someone you're with pressures or disrespects you in those places, that's not cool. 

Did you know that 1 in 5 teens admit that their friends are in unhealthy relationships? That’s a pretty scary stat, although I guess the bright side is that teens are savvy enough to spot an unhealthy relationship when they see one. Sometimes the signs are obvious—a friend’s boyfriend or girlfriend makes fun of them in public, isolates them from their friends and family, or even physically abuses them. But other times, it can be difficult to tell whether your friend is really in an unhealthy situation, or you just don’t like the person they’re with.

An unhealthy relationship may be harder to recognize than you might think. It’s not always as clear-cut as being with someone who hits you on a regular basis. If you want to make sure that you’re in a good relationship, these are the three things you need to know:

A few years ago, I interviewed a girl for Teen People magazine who was in an abusive relationship.  For an entire year, she endured physical, emotional, and verbal abuse at the hands of someone who supposedly loved her. When she finally had the courage to break up with him, her boyfriend held a gun to her head and threatened to kill her and himself.

I did not know exactly how difficult it was to be in an unhealthy relationship until recently when my good friend Jane* went through it. Jane was in a relationship with her boyfriend of four years. In the beginning, their relationship was great; they had good communication, trust, and respect. They were the kind of couple that rarely got into arguments and when something was wrong they would be able to talk about it without raising their voices. After being together for about a year and a half or so, things began to change and their relationship went from good to bad in the blink of an eye.

Tara* and I met in 6^th grade in elementary school. I was the new girl in our school and we instantly clicked. As we got older and moved on to Junior High we fell out for about a year but we eventually grew together in High School. Tara had plenty of boyfriends, and towards the end of Senior year she met Darnell*. They instantly grew close and intimate; unlike with the rest, I think Tara fell in love with him.

Dating abuse isn't something anyone wants to talk about, but as long as we're ignoring it, the problem will never go away. Instead, join Stay Teen as we participate in National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, a national effort to raise awareness about dating violence and abuse during the month of February.

We've collected resources, real stories, advice, and a lot more right here to help you learn more about dating abuse and how to deal with it. AND during the month of February, we'll be Tweeting about what love is and what it isn't; we want you to add your voice—just tweet your thoughts about what love is or isn't and tag your tweets with #loveis. (if you're not already, you can follow Stay Teen on Twitter here)