Friendship should be sweet, enjoyable, and supportive. I mean, our friends are among the most important people in our lives, and they naturally should make life more meaningful, shouldn’t they?
But what happens when certain friendships fail to have all the positive effects you expect? It means you’re in a toxic friendship.
Sounds crazy, right? But, well, there’s something called toxic friendship. It comes in different forms, but it generally drains you mentally and emotionally.
Toxic friendships have a way of bringing you down instead of lifting you. But how can you spot a toxic friendship?
There will always be signs – most victims just choose to overlook these signs. So what are the signs?
Below’s a list of 10 obvious signs of a toxic friendship.
So you see, the signs are almost always obvious. Don’t stick around if you continually see these signs. Run to avoid being completely drained.
Your friend always puts you down. While there’s nothing wrong with a little banter here and there, you should beware of a friend who demeans you and constantly makes you feel miserable.
Gossip. A friend that can’t keep the smallest secrets is not a friend. Toxicity can push anyone to spread your secrets to other people.
Offers insincere apologies. People make mistakes, but when they realise, they should genuinely apologise and make efforts to make things right. Toxic friends will only shrug off their mistakes with a flippant apology and expect you to let them go completely.
Compares you to others. That friend who always points out where you don’t measure up to others is no friend. Good friends recognise that everyone should have unique traits and differences. So they’ll not judge you on other people’s pedestal.
Tries to change you. An ideal friend will accept you as you are, not forcing you to change to suit their narrative. Of course, they’ll advise you about something you’re doing wrongly, but not try to change your personality.
Disrespect of boundaries. They’re probably toxic if they disregard and cross your boundaries regarding time, space, or other limits you set for yourself.
Constant negativity. If your interactions with friends are always negative, please run for your dear life. If you stick around, they’ll drain you and make you feel undervalued.
Lack of support. Healthy friendships involve support in happy and vulnerable times. If a friend reacts jealously to your moments of achievement, you should better run away.
Manipulative behaviour. Often, toxic friendships involve one party using guilt trips, emotional blackmails, and deceit to influence the other party’s habits.
Frequent conflicts. Disagreements are normal in all friendships, but you should be able to draw a line when it becomes too frequent or causes you constant emotional stress.
So you see, the signs are almost always obvious. Don’t stick around if you continually see these signs. Run to avoid being completely drained.
Source: pulse.ng
