Washington, July 23 - Walking out, a process both confusing and complicated, is emotionally taxing for abused women, say researchers.

'When a woman is disengaging from a relationship, she is often unclear about her family's boundaries. Is her partner in or out of her life,' said Jennifer Hardesty, professor, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign (UI-UC).

'A woman's spouse may be physically in the home but psychologically unavailable. He's not caring for the kids or being a loving partner,' she added.

'Or she may have physically left him but still be psychologically connected. She misses him, and for the sake of her children, she'd like for her family to be together again,' said Hardesty.

'It's not unlike the experience of having a child leave for college,' she noted. 'Your child isn't living at home, but you're still very connected emotionally. Yet, when they come home for visits, they may pay little attention to you while they make the rounds of their friends.'

'In the first two stages, women begin to disconnect emotionally from their relationships. You hear them say things like, I started not to care for him anymore,' said Lyndal Khaw, who co-authored the study with Hardesty, based on 25 abused women from varied backgrounds.