How a toxic relationship affects your mental health?

Many relationships surround a person during their entire life; some of their relationships are very important to them, and some may pose a major threat to their mental health. You may be causing toxicity in your relationship if either one of you is persistently egotistical, rude, or disrespectful.

However, a relationship requires to be primarily supportive, empathetic, and courteous; both partners contribute equally, but none of them has the right to degrade the other.

How does a relationship become toxic?

In a toxic relationship, One of the spouses always seeks to discredit the other. The other spouse may find that their behaviours or words are unpleasant. As a result, one spouse is at a substantial disadvantage in the relationship, which can be psychologically and emotionally exhausting.

A toxic relationship makes you feel abandoned, misunderstood, dehumanized, or abused. In contrast to a healthy relationship, a toxic relationship can affect your whole life. It can cause serious mental disorders like depression, PTSD, and your cognitive ability is retarded for your whole life.

What are the five major signs of a toxic relationship?

Toxic relationships are physically or verbally abusive. However, there are additional, less obvious indications of a bad relationship, such as:

1. While you're around the other partner, you're not at your best.

2. After a conversation with the other partner, you feel unhappy, irritated, or exhausted.

3. You continuously feel that you are not enough to meet the level or requirements of your spouse.

4. It's always your fault; they flip things around such that what you believe they did wrong is now your fault.

5. You avoid bringing up problems to provoke extreme tensions and continuing the relationship just for the sake of the fun days you both had at the beginning.

What are the Effects of Toxic relationships on mental health?

• Self-esteem: Being mistreated leads to a strained relationship with oneself. And you may find yourself losing faith, confidence, ambitions, and instincts all of a sudden, thus ultimately resulting in reduced self-esteem.

• Trust issues: Piling up your emotions makes you mentally unstable, making it difficult to trust your partner to share your feelings and even makes you feel disappointed for not having a fair share in a relationship.

• Demotivated: You may notice a decrease in your energy levels. It may be not easy to find motivation for the tasks that were formerly valuable to you.

• Depression: Detachment or unhappiness might be the first signs of depression. Depression is a severe mental health issue that should never be overlooked or dismissed in the context of a toxic relationship.

• Anxiety and Stress: Toxic relationships cause mental stress and anxiety. So it's essential to consider the clinical manifestations of anxiety and stress-related toxic relationships.

How can you cope with a toxic relationship?

If you can't get out of a toxic relationship, it's natural to wonder, "How can toxic relationship issues be resolved?" Even if you can't get away from such situations due to work or family obligations, you may control the relationship and try to make it a healthy relationship.

Here are a few suggestions to constitute a healthy relationship:

1. Relationship counselling:

Couples can address problems in their relationship, focus on interaction and positive communication, and resolve disagreements by undergoing relationship counselling.

While commonly used to address issues, relationship counselling can be beneficial in any toxic relationship. Relationship counselling should begin immediately as the issues become too much to bear. Many people assume that relationship counselling should only be sought when a dispute has arisen to divorce.

2. Communicate freely with your partner:

In addition to seeking relationship counselling, you should discuss what you want from the other person. Feel responsible for your involvement in the circumstance while vocalizing your emotions and desires.

3. Set clear boundaries:

Each and every relationship requires effort to improve the connection and shift its trajectory, especially if the partnership provides advantages. Focus on good communication and effective boundaries that emphasize the good results rather than the bad aspects of your relationship.

4. Focus on self-care:

Your mental health suffers when you deal with toxic relationships. As a result, having a healthy self-care routine that includes stress-reduction activities is critical. These activities include Yoga, exercise, good sleep and eating healthy food.

5. Acceptance of responsibility

As always, Acceptance is the key here where both partners should accept their part in contributing to the toxicity. The only way to forward is not to blame the other. And instead, try to understand and learn from the past and communicate. You and your partner are on the right track if you both know the relationship isn't going well and want to fix it.

Conclusion:

Your mental wellness is more vital than anything or anyone. Setting boundaries is crucial for protecting yourself and those you care about from abusive relationships and their consequences. However, engaging in relationship counseling can prove the best way to seek the solution to your persistent relationship issues.