A Guide To Recognizing If You Are In A Toxic Friendship

Your friends play an essential role in your well-being; they’re able to add happiness and joy to your life. That’s not always the case though; some friends leave you drained and can even contribute to mental illness!

Your friends are supposed to add to your life by supporting you emotionally through tough times and providing companionship when you’re lonely. But some friendships aren’t as fulfilling.

Toxic friendships aren’t as obvious as toxic relationships because you tend to laugh things off with friends. Here are some signs that indicate that your friendship might be toxic.

There’s no trust

Any successful relationship in your life is built off a foundation of trust. Friends are trusted with secrets, and you should be able to hold them to their word when it’s crunch time.

If your friend’s always unreliable or talking to everyone else about the secrets you’ve entrusted them to, how can the trust still be there? You need to address this issue or walk away from the friendship.

You dread talking to them.

Whenever you see a notification from them, and the light inside you goes out, then bells should be going off in your head. You shouldn’t feel the urge to duck for cover every time your friend messages you!

The company you keep greatly influences you; if you don’t like yourself when you’re around them, they’re probably not good friends. Your values should at least align slightly, especially on the big and important stuff like girl or bro code!

It’s constant competition.

Sometimes competitiveness is good for you, but that should only apply to gaming. Your friend should never try to make you keep up with their lifestyle or even talk bad about you when you’re doing better than them.

You should be able to celebrate your wins with your friends without worrying about any hostility due to jealousy. A good friend will want what is best for you; even the advice they give you will be in your best interests and not a form of sabotage.

They’re insincere

Actions speak louder than words, and if your friend is as unreliable as their word, then you can’t depend on them. You should be able to rely on your friend when you ask them for even the smallest of favors; if they constantly can’t deliver, it is a problem!

When you get into an argument, they should be able to apologize to you without trying to shift the blame or make you seem irrational. If they do this, you’ll probably feel conscious of your behavior and make excuses for the things they do that offend you!

It’s always about them.

Friends who are never around when you try to reach them are never good for you! Even during conversations, they seem to be shifting the conversation back to themselves constantly.

They’re not accepting.

They take advantage of you.

Toxic people don’t know when to stop taking from people physically or emotionally! They do this because they lack empathy, and they enjoy being in power.

Try addressing any issues you find, but if they try to manipulate you and shift the blame, you’ll want to drift away slowly. You should always do what’s best for you, even if that means losing a friend who isn’t good for you!