Toxic friendships are negative relationships that make you feel unhappy, unhealthy and unequal.
Signs of a toxic friendship:
- They get mad at you over small things and ignore you.
- You’re walking on eggshells all the time.
- There’s an imbalance in “talk time”.
- You’re the only one who initiated talking and hanging out.
- You don’t equally share details about your life with each other.
- They are inconsiderate about your time and energy.
- They only call you when they have a problem or need something from you.
- The do not respect your boundaries.
- They talk trash behind your back.
- They try to control what you do and how you feel.
- They’re constantly negative and criticize you in a non-constructive way.
- You’re overly competitive with each other.
- They don’t get along with any other important people in your life.
- You dread talking to and hanging out with them.
- They drain your energy and leave you felling depleted.
What you can do about a toxic friendship:
- Talk to your friend about how their behavior makes you feel. (Whenever possible, do this in person.)
- Give them a chance to tell their side of the story. (Don’t get roped into arguing.Be sure to avoid saying hurtful things.)
- Tell them that if they don’t improve their treatment of you, then you will have to start distancing yourself from them.
- Call them out in the future when their behavior is unacceptable.
Any person that doesn’t respect your boundaries doesn’t respect you. Someone that leaves you feeling completely drained every time you talk or hang out may be toxic and you should evaluate the friendship. Just because that person may have been there for you in the past doesn’t mean you have to carry a friendship on that has run its course. Once a toxic friendship has ended, move on. Don’t disrespect each other by trash talking each other. Most importantly, we cannot be friends with everyone, and not everyone is going to like us, but we still need to be respectful of each other.
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