4 Ways Toxic Relationships Harm You

Harmful or unhealthy relationships can have a hugely detrimental impact on your health, happiness, and overall well-being, especially your mental health. The issue is that while some relationships are toxic and harmful or even abusive, other unhealthy relationship patterns can be much more subtle and difficult to recognize. 

 Certainly, no relationship is perfect, it is important to be able to recognize the signs of an unhealthy relationship and know what to do to either change it or end it. 

Some of the common characteristics of unhealthy and harmful relationships and how to recognize if you are in one is what I will like to expose in this article. It also covers steps you can take to make your relationship healthier and when to seek professional help.

1. Control

In unhealthy relationships, one person may try to control the other person’s life. This may be done through intimidation, but it can also involve other types of manipulation like verbal abuse, words to put the other person’s effort down, etc.

Sometimes the person may engage in behaviors that seem extremely affectionate and loving. In reality, these actions are designed to keep tabs on the other individual and prevent them from doing things or going places where they are outside of the other person’s control.

2. Disrespect

Disrespect can take a variety of forms in unhealthy relationships. Sometimes it might mean someone being dismissive of the other person. In other cases, it can involve outright ridiculing or making fun of the opinions or interests of the other person.

This disrespect can often feel like rejection, which can lead to a range of emotions including hurt feelings, shame, guilt, loneliness, embarrassment.

3. Lack of Trust

Unhealthy relationships are often marked by a lack of trust. You might feel like you have to hide things from your partner, or you might often feel like they are hiding things from you. 

To develop healthy trust, both people in a relationship have to engage in mutual, reciprocal self-disclosure. This involves revealing things about yourself over time as the relationship deepens and grows. The process of sharing and listening contributes to feelings of emotional intimacy and closeness. But if you feel like you cannot trust the other person with your innermost feelings, you’re not likely to tell them your feeling, thoughts, or memories.

4. Poor Communication

Good communication is a cornerstone of any healthy relationship. Unhealthy relationships are often marked by patterns of ineffective communication. This might involve not talking about problems, avoiding difficult issues, expecting the other person to be a mind reader, not listening, getting defensive, or stonewalling to avoid confronting problems in the relationship.