How Can You Tell If You Are in a Toxic Relationship?
Your partner may treat you badly, but because of your love for them, you decide to simply grin and bear the pain.
This is probably where the saying "Love is blind" came from, since this situation is experienced by millions of people all over the world at any given moment.
How can you tell if you are in a toxic relationship? Situations may vary from couple to couple, but there are several general patterns in toxic relationships that you might recognize in your own relationship.
Check the list below and see if any of these toxic relationship "symptoms" is evident between you and your partner.
1: Your partner insults you or verbally puts you down.
This symptom is bad enough when your partner makes you feel bad with their words when the two of you are alone.
It's much, much worse when they do it in public, especially when they do it in front of people you know! Look back and see if they've ever done such a cruel thing to you in the past.
If they have, then it's definitely a sign of a toxic relationship.
Remember that criticism doesn't have to be cruel - a good partner knows how to soften their words enough to bring the message across without hurting your feelings.
When you tell the truth correctly, it can never hurt anyone, and can even help a relationship grow.
2: Your partner says, but doesn't show, that they love you.
Words are nice, but they're also cheap - anyone can say "I love you" to their partner.
But it takes a very special person to back their words up with the appropriate action.
If your partner says "I love you" but you don't feel loved in the least, it might be a sign of a toxic relationship.
It'll be hard to be happy in one.
3: You're feeling hopelessly dependent on your partner.
This is a classic sign of a toxic relationship - when you're feeling as though you couldn't live without your partner, or when you can't imagine the possibility of breaking up, then your partner has probably made you feel so insignificant and dependent on them.
You may not have noticed it, but that's because the feeling creeps up on you the more you give in to your partner's demands, no matter how unreasonable they may sound.
If you find yourself trying to change yourself just to please your partner, even if it makes you worse off in the process, then you can bet you're in a toxic relationship.
Remember that in such a relationship, the longer you stay in it, the harder the fall's going to be in the end.
Unless you can turn things around soon, you might be better off talking to your partner about things and decide whether or not they're willing to make the relationship a two-way street like it's supposed to be.