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Here's Why You Need To Get Away From The Toxic Members Of Your Family

Here's Why You Need To Get Away From The Toxic Members Of Your Family

The link with the family is supposed to be that unwavering bond that no one and anything can break, but sometimes it becomes imperative to get away from some family members who turn out to be toxic. Do not compromise your mental, emotional or physical health to tolerate a person who is harmful to the family.

Need To Get Away From The Toxic Members Of Your Family

Often, the family member who is toxic is a parent. It is extremely painful to realize that the personality of a toxic parent is very unlikely to ever change. The decision to have little or no contact, then to stick to one's decision, can be atrocious. In addition, the person is not aware of the toxicity and finds himself in an endless cycle of abusive behavior that she eventually accepts.

Let's start by recognizing the signs of a toxic person:
  • She makes judgments: Constructive criticism is healthy, but persistent and unjustified criticism can undermine self-esteem.
  • She feeds on dramas: She spends her time sharing the most vulnerable moments of a person who has trusted her with all the rest of the family.
  • She only speaks to you when she needs you. Often she turns to you for advice or emotional comfort. But once you turn to her for help, she rejects you.
  • She can attack you, scream and insult you. It may have positive interactions but are short-lived as it quickly returns to its typical manipulative behavior.
  • If your family member claims to have never said something, when you and everyone know that it is not true, it is a form of manipulation, which is highly abusive behavior.

Toxic relationships, even with family members, can exhaust you emotionally, which can impact your overall mental well-being. Nevertheless, you should not accept the status quo.

How to make relationships with these people tolerable?

There are some techniques that people can use to make these relationships more tolerable, these methods usually involve taking a distance away from the toxic person. However, in many cases, the best solution is to completely eliminate the toxic person from your life. It's rarely easy, and it's often complicated and emotionally conflictual in the case of close family relationships, such as with a brother, but when situations deteriorate to the point of making it impossible to live a happy and liberated life, this course of action is usually the best.

Even if you move away from this toxic person, you will still need time to recover from this abuse. It is important at this time to surround yourself with people who support you as your friends and other family members, this will help you make the positive change you need in your life.

The advice of the experts!

Alithia Asturrizaga, a certified clinical social worker at Alithia Psychotherapy Associates, says that the toxic person in your life might try to make you believe that you are the aggressor. She will probably claim that she was a victim because you are avoiding her or going away. She will try to give you the false feeling that she has changed, just to make you feel remorse. Know that these are the same abusive tactics she used before, and you should not back off and accept her again in your life.

After all, toxicity is harmful, and you do not need that kind of behavior that kills your mental health.