How Toxic Relationships Affect Your Mental Health

Mike Richins

Being in a toxic relationship is the last thing you want in your life. Unlike physical pain, mental trauma kills you on the inside little by little every day. Yet, identifying and getting rid of them is the hardest part. Well, once you know the consequences, it will provide you with a different perspective.

So how do toxic relationships affect your mental health? The worst ones you will experience are low self-esteem, depression, lack of energy, and lack of self-care. The list doesn't stop here, though. There are worsening anxiety and stress-related issues that won't go away on their own.

Therefore, we're here to answer all of your concerns about your mental health. The impact on mental health will be explored in this article as well as possible solutions. But first, let's define what a toxic relationship means before we proceed.

Actual Meaning Of Toxic Relationships

Toxic relationships could mean different things to different people. In essence, any relationship that makes you feel worse over time instead of better is a toxic relationship. That could be harmful sometimes.

However, as the perception of toxic relationships varies, when a person exhibits conflicting behavior, some might not consider this a toxic relationship.

Likewise, unhealthy interactions can occur in any environment, including the bedroom, the office, and the playground. Even unwholesome relationships may present within your own family.

What Do You Go Through in Toxic Relationships?

You feel isolated and confined, and you're losing yourself in a harmful relationship. A toxic friendship can be just as bad for your mental health as a toxic marriage or toxic family relationship. Your mental health will be harmed by this relationship.

Many toxic relationships are based on emotional control and psychological abuse. It has a bad effect on mental health. You may feel lost and alone as a result of emotional manipulation.

When someone has been trying to manipulate you continuously and playing with your emotions and mental health, it can be difficult to trust yourself. You can consequently believe that you are unworthy or that you will never succeed on your own.

As a result, it's crucial to seek assistance if you're going through this. Avoid suffering alone. Your mental well-being is crucial.

How Toxic Relationships Affect Your Mental Health?

Now that you know what a toxic relationship is, it’s time to get in deep with how it affects your mental health. Most people typically ignore their mental health until the toxin has multiplied. So, this is how it harms you every day;

Self-Esteem Challenges

A toxic person could consistently belittle your behaviors, feelings, and self. You might eventually begin criticizing yourself as well. The terrible treatment creates a poor relationship with oneself. And all of a sudden, you can start to doubt your skills, your goals, and your instincts.

Lack Of Self Care

Negativity and toxicity reinforce each other. Negative emotions can destroy your more virtuous practices. If a toxic person makes you feel miserable, you can stop taking good care of yourself.

This includes skipping out on your self-care rituals, sleeping patterns, exercise plan, or even personal hygiene.

Accordingly, your mental health and general wellness are impacted by not getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, and eating a good diet. As a result, you won’t ever feel good about yourself and will always feel miserable.

Anxiety and stress-related problems are all linked to relationships with people. There are limits to how much our neural systems and emotions can take. A study discovered that while healthy relationships reduced anxiety and stress problems, toxic connections worsened them.

Nevertheless, it's essential to recognize the early warning signs and symptoms of toxic relationships linked to stress and anxiety.

No Energy

Living in an unhealthy partnership can be draining. An emotional and mental toll is caused by uncertainty. You might notice that your energy levels drop. It could be challenging to regain your motivation for goals that were formerly essential to you.

Overall, being completely worn out all the time is not uncommon. These symptoms can be challenging to get rid of, and they can have a detrimental effect on both your personal and professional life.

Depression

Yes, the word depression has got really common around us now. However, depression is actually a thing and the one who suffers it knows how dark it is there.

Nevertheless, a toxic relationship can significantly affect how severe depression is, and depression can range in severity. Detachment or melancholy may be the first symptoms of depression.

They may progress to include ideas of harming oneself and a lack of ability to carry out necessary daily tasks.

Overall, if you experience any of the symptoms above, that is your initial indication. You could be tempted to believe that it is only a short-term issue, and occasionally it is.

The important connections in your life should be reviewed to see whether any of them feel like a net drain if you're persistently experiencing any of these symptoms. In that scenario, it's time to consider seeking assistance.

How to Handle Toxic Relationships?

Initially, there are several things you can do to handle toxic relationships.

1. Educate yourself about relational toxicity if you think your relationship is toxic.
2. Also, learn its causes, impacts, indicators, and symptoms so you can assess how your relationship stacks up.
3. Later, determine whether the connection can be improved and communicate your feelings to the other party. Although having this talk could be challenging, it is the only way to face reality and resolve the situation.
4. Establish appropriate boundaries for each party to the partnership. Therefore, it's important to develop and safeguard inner strength. It's time to end a toxic relationship if it threatens your sense of security and inner strength.
5. Respect for one another and open communication should be at the heart of these boundaries. They are crucial for safeguarding mental wellness. Determine what you will and won't tolerate while working together with the other person.
6. Finally, it is absolutely fine to ask trusted loved ones, extended family, or counselors for support. If this relationship cannot be improved upon, it might be best to call it off.
7. Get help from trauma-informed therapy if your mental health has been traumatized by previous toxic relationships. Never overlook or minimize depression because it is a significant mental health issue.

How To Avoid Toxic Relationships Further On

Understanding when a relationship starts to go south is one of the best strategies to stay out of toxic relationships. However, this might be difficult. Examining the effect the connection has on you and your well-being may make it easier to identify a toxic relationship.

It is crucial for you to follow your instincts and pay close attention to how you feel around particular people. You can assess and avoid toxic relationships by asking yourself the following questions:

In Their Presence, How Do You Feel?

One of the simplest methods to determine whether a person is unsafe for you is to ask yourself this question. A colleague, sibling, or spouse is probably toxic if they make you feel unworthy, defeated, dumb, embarrassed, or otherwise negative about yourself.

When They Are Around, Are You At Your Best?

Certain people help us to be our best selves. Spending time with your best buddy, for instance, may make you feel smart, intriguing, and competent. You make wise choices and are proud of the person you are.

However, negative people often make us at our worst. These folks could deliberately work to highlight your less appealing traits, including encouraging you to abuse substances.

You can be in a toxic relationship if you discover that you don't like the person you are with a particular acquaintance, relative, or partner.

FAQs

Now this section comes with some of the most asked questions from people who have suffered from toxicity. Read on to learn more.

Q: How do toxic relationships affect my body?

Relationships that are toxic frequently cause a lot of stress, despair, and immune system deterioration.

Q: What action is the most destructive in a relationship?

One of the most popular methods of emotional manipulation is gaslighting, which you shouldn't put up with. Hence, finding strategies to counter gaslighting is a good idea.

Q: Do those people who are toxic know they are poisonous?

No, most people don’t realize how toxic they are. It’s important that you point fingers at their toxicity so that they themselves realize that.

Conclusion

To conclude, that is all you need to know about how toxic relationships affect your mental health. Yes, it’s hard to get rid of the people that you care for. However, they certainly don’t, and you can’t risk your mental health for it.

Even though most people don’t realize they are being toxic, that doesn’t mean you will tolerate them. Your focus, energy, stress, and self-esteem are at stake here. Lastly, consult a health professional when you find out it's getting out of your control. There’s no loss of face here.