Valerie Bertinelli Speaks Candidly About People Who Endure 'Emotional Abuse' in Relationships

Valerie Bertinelli attends the Build Series to discuss 'Kids Baking Championship" & "Family Restaurant Rivals' at Build Studio on August 21, 2019 in New York City
Valerie Bertinelli attends the Build Series to discuss 'Kids Baking Championship" & "Family Restaurant Rivals' at Build Studio on August 21, 2019 in New York City

Dominik Bindl/Getty

Valerie Bertinelli is speaking candidly about people who endure emotional abuse in their relationships.

In an Instagram post shared on Friday, the Food Network star, 62, reposted a video of a woman speaking about why men and women leave relationships, before she provided her own commentary after the short clip ended.

"When it comes to emotional abuse and mental abuse, it's not talked about, because you just think, 'I'm not being physically abused, so it's not abuse,' " Bertinelli said.

Then noting that "some women get so lost in trying to make their partner feel so loved, so respected that they've lost any kind of love or respect that they have for themselves" the actress continued by saying that a person "will leave to just find themselves again, to just love themselves again, because they don't even know who they are."

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Bertinelli's post comes about after the star's marriage to ex-husband Tom Vitale ended last year. She was also married to the late Eddie Van Halen from 1981 to 2007.

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The actress filed for divorce from Vitale in May 2022, six months after filing for legal separation in November 2021. In November 2022, she shared on Twitter that she was celebrating what she called the "second best day of my life," when she became officially divorced from Vitale.

RELATED VIDEO: Valerie Bertinelli Celebrates Being Officially Divorced from Tom Vitale: 'Second Best Day of My Life'

Since then, Bertinelli has been candid about the tough time she's had after splitting from her ex-husband.

Earlier this month, the actress shared a post on social media about why she was looking forward to the new year and saying goodbye to 2022.

"This new year's day is coming in so much happier than last year's," the mother of one wrote in an Instagram post, which featured a clip of her smiling and twirling to Taylor Swift's "Clean."

"From a young age, New Year's Day has been one of my absolute favorite days, for the last 5-6 years it's been one of the saddest. No more," she continued. "There is so much to look forward to now, when before it just looked endlessly sad, scary, lonely and stressful. I have no idea what's ahead for me and I'm not worried. I'm free. This new years day, 2023, is the first day of the rest of my life!"

Bertinelli then concluded the post with a special message to her fans and followers: "I wish all of you every bit of joy and happiness and kindness that you claim. It's all yours. Grab it! ✨Happy New Year✨Love you 🤍."

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.