Toxic friends, however, often present as selfish and challenging. They may struggle with healthy communication and become aggressive, passive-aggressive, or dismissive when they don't get what they want. They may also depend on you for validation or comfort, exhibiting a range of attention-seeking behaviors.
“Toxic friendships happen when one person is being emotionally harmed or used by another, making the relationship more of a burden than support,” says Suzanne Degges-White, author of Toxic Friendships. A bad friendship can increase your blood pressure, lower your immunity, and affect your mental health.
How do toxic friends behave? Toxic friends will make you feel bad, small, stressed, or uncared for in one way or another, whether it's through talking about you behind your back, subtle manipulation, codependence, or disregarding your feelings and experiences.
8 Signs of a Toxic Friendship | Sharon Livingston | TEDxWilmingtonWomen
27 related questions found
What is Gaslighting in friendship?
“Gaslighting in a friendship or any other relationship is a process of making someone feel bad about themselves and guilty for being crazy. It frequently involves the abuser keeping control.
This friend may only make plans when it is beneficial to them — or only when they are feeling lonely and bored. They may also seek constant attention or ask for unreasonable favors. Otherwise, they are unavailable or unreliable when you need them most.
Even if you've been friends with someone for a long time, people can grow apart or no longer put equal effort and care into the relationship. If you can't count on them, or feel like you're doing all the work to maintain the friendship, it's okay to go with your gut and cut it off.
Friendships can feel unbalanced when one person doesn't share much. Some people have a harder time opening up about emotional distress or other difficulties. They might deflect questions about their personal life and avoid sharing anything beyond superficial details about themselves.
While you will not always know what is going on in your friend's life or how a certain situation is affecting them, you should always be able to put yourself in their shoes and be part of their support system. A friendship that lacks empathy can quickly become a toxic friendship.
Rather, friends tend to drift apart when there is disagreement on issues. Friends also drift apart even when there is no malice. Sometimes circumstances, such as moving away, make it more difficult to maintain the relationship.
Obviously, most people don't meet all of their friends during childhood and, unfortunately, not all friendships last forever. The poll found that the average friendship lasts for 17 years, however, 17 percent say they've had the same best friend for over 30 years!
Questioning someone's credibility, minimizing or denying things that happened, or leaving out key facts are examples of gaslighting tactics. Gaslighting is just one of many abusive tactics people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) may use to protect their egos.
What is it called when someone turns something around on you?
They turn the story around to make it seem like you are at fault, deflecting attention and blame away from them to make you feel guilty. This type of emotional manipulation is called gaslighting.
Some friendships end with a mutual decision, some end with a disagreement, and some just sort of fade out. Each type of ending can be painful in its own way, even if you're the one who ended the friendship.
The most significant factors in ending a friendship were discovered to be, broadly, selfishness, being more likely to end friendships with those who looked after their own interest, were not supportive of them, were dishonest, and were taking without giving, among the prime reasons.
