Whether you’re in a relationship with a man you recently met, your fiancé, or even a good friend, you might find yourself increasingly unhappy and wanting to avoid being around this person for any length of time. When this happens, it may be due to the fact that you’re a part of a toxic relationship. These soul-sucking relationships can cause great stress and damage your emotional and mental health, so knowing how to detect one is vital to your daily well-being.
You Don’t Enjoy Being with Them Anymore
When you’re in a toxic relationship, you might find yourself making excuses to get away from that person. What you used to enjoy together now just seems like a chore.
You feel stressed out when you’ve planned to spend time with them and dread every moment because you know how negatively they’ll perceive everything.
You Don’t Feel as if You Have Their Support
A toxic friend or partner will constantly try and one-up you in every conversation.
If you want to talk about your day, they’ll turn the conversation back around to focus on themselves. Your experiences, opinions, and emotions are rarely, if ever, validated.
Eventually, you will find yourself keeping everything inside for fear of being ridiculed or made to feel guilty.
You Absorb Their Negativity
If you find yourself constantly feeling down and at war with the world in general, stop for a moment and examine your life’s relationships.
Is there anyone in your life that’s always negative? Do they constantly put everyone and everything down?
If so, you might be absorbing their negative attitudes and weighing down your emotional well-being. Take steps to steer clear of them until you can look on the bright side once again.
They Mock Change
No matter what changes you’re trying to make in your life—weight loss, a new career, or even starting a family—a toxic individual will mock and ridicule those changes.
If that doesn’t work, he or she will make you try and feel guilty for trying them, as if you’re leaving your relationship behind or trying to act as if you’re “better” than he or she is.
True friends support life-changing decisions and understand that people must grow and change if they are to improve their lives.
You Are Not Allowed to Have Other People in Your Life
Toxic friends or partners are constantly angry at you for seeing other people, whether they’re friends or family.
They are often suspicious of the time you spend away from them and will act hurt or passive aggressive while you’re gone and long after you return.
They will try and monopolize your time and get angry when you can’t focus on them every moment.
They Constantly Put You Down
A toxic person will make you feel as if you can’t ever do anything right. No matter how hard you try to please them, they always seem angry or annoyed at you.
They will often make cruel remarks about your personality or appearance and then claim they were joking when you get upset. Their sense of humor is often nasty and mean-spirited, especially when it’s aimed at you.
They Invade Your Privacy
Toxic individuals are often extremely insecure and fear that you will leave them behind.
Because of this, they will often read texts, emails, and listen in on phone conversations to ensure you’re not talking to people they don’t like, even if it’s a family member.
They constantly make demands on your time and want to know where you are every moment.
Toxic friends or partners can make your life a misery, so protect your well-being and understand toxic behavior before it affects every aspect of your life.