A toxic mother creates a negative home environment where unhealthy interactions and relationships damage a child's sense of self and their views of relationships with others. Over time, it increases the risk of poor development in the child's self-control, emotional regulation, social relations, etc1.
Toxic parents can have negative effects on children throughout their lifespan, including mental health disorders, depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol use, etc. Young children often show signs early on that their relationship with their parents is affecting their mental and physical health.
Emotionally absent or cold mothers can be unresponsive to their children's needs. They may act distracted and uninterested during interactions, or they could actively reject any attempts of the child to get close. They may continue acting this way with adult children.
And why is my mother so toxic? There's no one reason why or how a mother becomes toxic. There could be underlying mental illness that she's never dealt with, or abuse in her childhood. Maybe she had a toxic mother, she's a narcissist or she has a personality disorder.
A toxic parent can be told over and over again what they're doing is hurtful and can keep on denying it. People like this aren't grounded in reality. If it seems that no matter how many times you explain your side and your parent still doesn't understand, take it in, or care, it may be time to cut them off.
The most common toxic behavior of parents is to criticize their child, express self-wishes, complain about the difficulties of raising a child, make unhealthy comparisons, and make hurtful statements1.
According to experts, a major key to distinguishing the two is looking at how long the strife lasts. If things are nasty between you in many different areas of the relationship for years at a time, the relationship itself might be toxic. But if there's only one, sudden issue, that's probably more benign.
Traumatic experiences can initiate strong emotions and physical reactions that can persist long after the event. Children may feel terror, helplessness, or fear, as well as physiological reactions such as heart pounding, vomiting, or loss of bowel or bladder control.
Toxic parents may invade your privacy or not allow you to make your own decisions. Or maybe they're overly critical and controlling of your decisions, even as an adult. Manipulative behaviors. Your parent may try to control you by using guilt or shame to play with your emotions.
Signs of controlling parents include: Demand blind obedience and conformity. Do not allow children to participate in or question the parents' decisions. Do not let their child make their own decisions.
Every Conversation Makes You Upset
For an easy way to tell if your mom is toxic, consider how you feel after talking to her. If every conversation ends with you feeling guilty, angry, or invisible, that's your sign, says licensed psychologist Dr. Tanisha M. Ranger, PsyD, CSAT-S, CMAT-S.
Some well-meaning parents may gaslight their children in an attempt to protect them. For example, “You will love these vegetables as they are so yummy.” However, many more do so to maintain control, power, and a sense of rightness in the parent-child relationships.
Some of the common signs of a toxic parent or parents include: Highly negatively reactive. Toxic parents are emotionally out of control. They tend to dramatize even minor issues and see any possible slight as a reason to become hostile, angry, verbally abusive, or destructive.
Cue the cabinet slamming, yelling, or stomping around the room as you let your partner know just how upset you are. Because that's the thing about mom rage: It's a kind of seething — but also surprising — rage that can feel very difficult to control. And it can be set off by the smallest of things.
Brown University's advice on keeping yourself safe in dysfunctional family relationships emphasizes the fact that a toxic parent is likely not to change; what can change is their child's level of engagement, boundary reinforcement, and resistance to old patterns.
Some of the reasons you get annoyed with your mom could include: she is too controlling, a hypocrite, and too demanding. Dealing with a mother you can't get along with is a frustrating endeavor, but when you understand why, you can start working on learning to be around your mother without feeling annoyed.
Yes, it is okay to feel like you hate your mother. It is not only okay but also completely normal. The problem lies not in having them but in how we cope with them. For example, holding onto our negative feelings without processing them or learning from them can negatively affect our lives.
Lack of trust
With an emotionally unreliable mother or one who is combative or hypercritical, the daughter learns that relationships are unstable and dangerous, and that trust is ephemeral and can't be relied on. Unloved daughters have trouble trusting in all relationships but especially friendship.
Mommy issues in women
Low self-esteem. Difficulty trusting others/commitment issues. Having very few female friends. Feeling like you must do everything perfectly.
Reasons for the detachment may be due to intergenerational and personal trauma, an absence of emotional intelligence, mental health issues, substance use and abuse issues, fragmented problem solving and conflict resolution skills, and a variety of other challenges.