How do toxic relationships affect your emotional health? A wise philosopher once said that some cause happiness wherever they go, while others cause happiness whenever they go. Without a doubt, Oscar Wilde stated the latter part of his famous quote with toxic people in mind. Yet, even when toxic people leave, things are hardly the same. The hurt lingers, the emotional wound festers, and the cancer of insecurities metastasizes.
It’s genuinely confounding that the relationship that once brought you joy or should at least bring you happiness becomes your source of pain. A pain of the worst kind. Pain that lingers even when you look whole.
The invisible pain of the heart lays waste on the human soul, mind, and body. Yet, many of us accommodate and endure toxic relationships even when they hurt us and are doomed to fail. So it becomes crucial to take off the veil of fake love and manipulation. It would be best to understand that sometimes you’re better off alone. Because toxic relationships cause a great deal of emotional hurt, here’s how:
Emotionally exhausts you
Toxic relationships are exhausting, whether you’re giving your all and getting peanuts in return or your partner smothers you. Toxic relationships take and take from you and demand that you continually sacrifice, endure, and tolerate the poisonous traits of your partner.
Finally, it gets to a point where you have nothing to give and can no longer take their toxic behavior. Though this often signals the end of the relationship, you are hardly ever the same. Emotional exhaustion seeps into your life outside the relationship and takes a while to recuperate.
Feeds your insecurities
We all come into relationships as imperfect people, hoping to be with someone that makes us become a better version of ourselves. But the reverse is the case in toxic relationships that affect our emotional health. Unhealthy relationships amplify our insecurities and make us worse than we were at the beginning of the relationship.
For example, if you have trust and jealousy issues and fall into a serial cheater’s hands, all they leave you with is severe trust issues and unhealthy jealousy. The same also applies to feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and fear fueled by a condescending, emotionally abusive, and physically abusive partner. The scary part is finding all these traits in one person.
Robs you of life’s pleasures
When you’re in a toxic relationship, you’re like a horse with a blinkered vision. All you see are the negatives, and all you feel is the pain and exhaustion. In the end, you become blind and deaf to all the good things happening around you. Either you’re hurting so much, or you become numb that you no longer find pleasure in things and life. So you become webbed in gloominess and sadness, and trust us when we say that things can only worsen from there.
Destroys your emotional support
Even though everyone should learn to be self-sufficient, no one can be entirely self-sufficient. We’re social creatures and thus need people to be completely whole. The same applies to our emotional health, which draws energy and support from friends and family.
Thus, therefore it’s no surprise that manipulative and abusive partners seek to isolate you and sever the bond you share with your friends and family. As a result, all you have is your toxic partner without a buffer of friends and family to give you meaningful advice, comfort you, support you emotionally and bring some happiness to your life.
SCARS YOU
Toxic relationships not only wound you and cause you pain; they often leave scars that hardly ever go away. Victims of physically abusive relationships can testify that they continually live in fear, cringe, and recoil from even the gentlest and heartwarming touch.
Toxic relationships always appear in our daily lives and interactions with other people. Because toxic relationships affect emotional health, many lack confidence and self-worth. The self-esteem of many is damaged, and many think they’re going crazy because of incessant gaslighting. The few who think they survived become cynics and chronic pessimists who are quick to judge and often on their toes to avoid being exploited again.
Here is the last word on how toxic relationships affect your emotional health
There you have it! So next time you notice the red flags, take off your shoes if they’re a hindrance and run for your life!
Toxic relationships can have a devastating effect on your emotional health. Whether it’s an unhealthy friendship, romantic relationship, or other types of bond with someone else that is causing you pain and suffering, toxic relationships are not worth the price paid in emotions.
This blog post has highlighted ways to determine if your current relationship is healthy and how to break free from these damaging bonds. We want our readers to be happy, so please share this article with anyone who may benefit from reading about toxic relationships! What kind of experience do you think people will have after reading this? Let us know in the comments below.