If you want to know what a toxic relationship is, or how to deal with it, we’re here to help. We want to give you some guidelines to think about and provide you with truth, hope, and plan going forward. To start, we’ll cover these two questions:
1. What do people say about toxic relationships?
2. What is a toxic relationship clinically?
“Toxic Relationships” are a difficult topic to approach because there are many varying opinions and experiences surrounding it. It seems like everyone has a different definition of what a toxic relationship is. For example, people will say a relationship is toxic when "you can't agree on things." Or, there’s “passive aggressive behavior." Maybe they "can't resolve conflict," or, "avoid conflict because they can't solve it." It could also be that "one person doesn't give any effort to the relationship." Now hear me out- these definitions are not healthy for a relationship, but they aren't toxic. They aren't great, but they can be fixed.
You see, toxic literally means poisonous. Eating or ingesting something that is toxic will kill you. It’s not just that you don’t like the taste. No. Toxic is poisonous. From a professional point of view, toxic relationships are abusive relationships physically, verbally or emotionally.
If you are in a situation where you’re experiencing abuse physically, verbally, or emotionally, feel unsafe/scared, or your rights/freedoms are taken away from you, please get help IMMEDIATELY. The Hotline: https://www.thehotline.org/ helps you understand what abuse is and how to get help and get safe.
I don't know your situation, but I'm giving you guidelines to think about. If you feel like your relationship is abusive or harmful to you, find someone to help you get safe.
After you get safe, only then can you start thinking about the relationship. After this, if there is any way we can help, we would be honored to.
Like we said before, there is a difference between how some people define toxic relationships. If you're in a relationship where you're fighting, can't compromise or you stopped putting effort in, while it's not a good situation, there is help for that! And we have worked with thousands of couples to grow, fix, and rebuild their marriage.
However, if you’re in a truly toxic and abusive relationship (physically, emotionally, or verbally) please get help. You can start here: https://www.thehotline.org/
We really do care about you.
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