Friends help make life more meaningful. They provide social and emotional support, alleviate feelings of loneliness and help you feel happier and more satisfied with life. Maintaining social ties can even extend longevity and reduce the risk of mental and physical health concerns, including depression and high blood pressure. Some friendships may not have such a positive effect, on the contrary: To be completely toxic.
Toxic friendships can take many forms, but they usually make you mentally exhausted and tend to burden you rather than relieve you. You have to keep in mind that everyone has good and bad days. So how do you tell the difference between a toxic friend and someone who is just having a bad day?
A good friend who is going through a bad day may hurt you or look distant, but will likely apologize once things are fixed. Toxic friends, on the other hand, tend to follow a pattern that never ends. These people will not show much remorse or inclination to change, even when they realize they have made you feel bad.
Some of the main signs that you are in a toxic society
1. They lower you down: When someone regularly belittles you and makes you feel bad, whether they use more subtle tactics or outright insults, your friendship is probably not a healthy friendship.
2. Gossip: You told her something with confidence and the next day, the whole social circle knows the details. We can all make mistakes and say something we are not supposed to say, but toxic friends enjoy spreading secrets.
3. Ask for forgiveness without sincerity: Instead of taking the time to consider your point of view, they say, "Well forgive me" or follow the sentence with a "but ..." while defending themselves.
4. They make you feel nervous.
5. Feel upset after going out with them.
6. Compares you to others: People have their own unique traits and differences and a good friend knows this. They will not compare you to others or imply that you are worth less.
7. Put yourself at the center - always: They keep talking for hours about themselves and may not be interested in you at any point. There are times when they seem distracted and have no interest in listening to you.
8. Try to change you.
Toxic friendships can have a very significant impact on overall well-being - and not positively. Spending time with people who do not care about your feelings can affect your emotional and physical health.
Source: Healthline, Women's Health
