Uncomfortable Ways Toxic Relationships Will Change You

Toxic relationships are going to change the way you view yourself and love as a whole. Here are a few ways toxic relationships will change you (but don’t worry because you can always heal and change again):

You will start questioning your worth. You will wonder whether you actually deserve the harsh treatment that you’ve been getting. You will trick yourself into thinking that you have earned the hurt, the pain, the lies. You will blame yourself for saying the wrong thing and causing them to lash out at you – when in reality, they are in charge of their own actions and they should have a handle on their own temper. But this person will make you question your own values, morals, and expectations. You will gradually forget what you deserve because this person will twist your perception. They will change the narrative to make you feel like they’re giving you exactly what you deserve.

You will lose the people who matter the most to you. Toxic humans want you all to yourself – and not just because they like the attention. They don’t want anyone to pick up on the fact that you’re being treated poorly and talk you out of staying with them. They don’t want anyone to remind you of your worth and give you a shoulder to lean on the next time they hurt you. That’s why they will try their hardest to pull you away from the family and friends who love you the most. They will make sure that they’re the only one you can rely on so that the thought of losing them feels like you’re losing your whole world.

You will start developing toxic traits of your own. In order to survive a toxic relationship, you’ll need to adapt to the situation. You’ll need to develop certain coping mechanisms in order to make it through each day intact. You might start telling little white lies because you’re scared they’re going to scream at you if they knew the truth – even though you have done nothing wrong. You might start snooping around their stuff because you’re convinced they’re doing the same to you – even though you never had trust issues before. You’ll start changing your behaviors because you can’t be yourself anymore, not around them. They won’t let you leave as the same person you were when you met them. You won’t recognize yourself soon.

You will assume that all relationships are like this. You will feel like leaving is pointless because every relationship will turn out the same way. You will convince yourself that this happens to everyone but people simply don’t talk about it in public. You will think this relationship is as good as it gets so there’s no point in breaking up and finding someone new – but that is far from the truth. Someone out there will treat your right. And even if it takes a while to find them, you can treat yourself right. You can live a life without them that will be so much more fulfilling than your existence with them.