One of the worst signs you have a toxic environment at home is that there's just no support for your dreams or goals. Nobody cares, and they may even laugh at you. Another thing that often happens is you get criticized a lot even if you have good dreams and ambitions.
Signs of a toxic household environment can include fear, guilt, and helplessness. Other signs, such as verbal or physical abuse, manipulative behavior, and extreme criticism, are also common in toxic households.
Negative relationships with family members or roommates can create a toxic environment. Verbal or physical abuse, constant criticism, and lack of support can create an atmosphere of fear, anxiety, and low self-esteem.
If you're experiencing symptoms you suspect are related to indoor air quality, getting an air quality monitor is an inexpensive way to pinpoint the problem. By monitoring levels of indoor air pollution, you can take steps to get fresh air back into your home, and hopefully, a little peace of mind with it.
Here are some common signs of toxic behavior from a family member: Their perception of you doesn't jibe with the way you see yourself. They accuse you of things that you feel aren't true. They make you feel like you're never enough or bad about yourself, or otherwise emotionally destabilized.
A toxic person is anyone whose behavior adds negativity and upset to your life. Many times, people who are toxic are dealing with their own stresses and traumas. To do this, they act in ways that don't present them in the best light and usually upset others along the way.
Burnout and poor mental health
These environments can take a toll on employee mental health and lead to issues like chronic stress, burnout, anxiety, and depression. Employees in toxic company cultures aren't doing their best work and likely aren't thriving in their personal lives either.
Fatigue and illness
Toxic workplaces often make you feel burned out, tired and ill due to the level of stress you're enduring.
In contrast, a toxic work environment can increase levels of stress and anxiety in addition to putting one at risk to experience health-related consequences.
You don't trust yourself and your instincts. You constantly try to justify yourself to others. You tend to compare yourself to others and/or feel ashamed of your imperfections. You don't stand up for your needs and/or let others walk over you.
Some 'lifestyle toxins' are easy to spot, like cigarette smoke, chemicals that leach into water from a plastic bottle, blackened edges on chargrilled meat, an overpowering synthetic home fragrance or the industrial strength oven cleaner that leaves you gasping for breath.
However, it is how you deal with conflict that can potentially be problematic. Research has uncovered four toxic behaviours that can get in the way of communication and derail collaborative relationships if left unchecked. The four behaviours are Blaming, Contempt, Defensiveness and Stonewalling.
On the other hand, some people with toxic traits may behave poorly because of past trauma, a dysfunctional family life, or substance use. A person's inability to process stress and grief can sometimes transform into toxicity towards others.
A toxic person is someone whose causes harm to other people through their behavior consistently, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Common toxic behaviors include emotional manipulation, lying, gaslighting, lack of empathy, and more.
"If a family member is not capable of curtailing their negative interactions with you or your children after you have asked them to do so, and it is clear your children are not benefiting in some way from that relationship, then there is no point to continue to maintain a hurtful relationship," says Dr. Halpern.
Feelings of extreme anxiety, low self-esteem, worthlessness, difficulty trusting others, maintaining close relationships, or feeling worn out after a visit with your family are all signs you grew up in a toxic family.
Chapman adds that typically, a toxic person is the product of a toxic environment themselves—so they often aren't even aware of their own harmful patterns. “I always joke that if you have one toxic person in your family, you probably have ten,” she says.
Among the most harmful toxins that can lurk inside your home are lead and pesticides, which studies have linked to brain and central nervous system damage, asthma, and even behavioral problems.