Feeling pressured or intimidated to make a certain decision or act a certain way. An overly dependent partner that threatens drastic action if the relationship ends. A partner exerting physical force to get their way. Pressuring or forcing a partner to engage in sexual activity without consent.
Unhealthy relationships may contribute to a toxic social environment that can lead to stress, depression, anxiety, and even suicide. It is important to recognize the warning signs and find ways to reduce or avoid relational toxicity. This is especially true for people recovering from a history of substance abuse.
Signs of Unhealthy Love
The majority of your time together is dedicated to arguments. Much of your time together involves making up after arguments. You don't have time for yourself. You feel possessive about your partner's time.
As a result of an unhealthy relationship many face problems of various disorders such as mental breakdowns, low self-worth, helplessness, fear, anxiety, depression, paranoia, and even narcissism.
These included health-related qualities (e.g., having an STD, poor hygiene), unattractive personality traits (e.g., anger issues, being untrustworthy), being "bad in bed" — especially for short-term relationships — and already having another partner (e.g., being married; Jonason et al., 2015).
Unhealthy and Abusive Relationships
These behaviors can include grabbing, pushing, pinching, yelling, making demeaning comments, hitting, strangulation of the neck, not letting you spend time with friends or family, or making you feel guilty for not spending time with your partner.
Love: Relationship deals with all aspects of reality. Toxic love: Relationship is based on delusion and avoidance of the unpleasant. Love: Self-care by both partners; emotional state not dependent on other's mood. Toxic love: Expectation that one partner will fix and rescue the other.
You feel like you're withdrawing from your partner, or you're not physically responsive to them. You ignore your partner. If you used to ask about their schedule or check-in during workdays but feel like you have lost interest, it could be a sign that things have changed. You don't argue anymore.
It may be hard to accept, but when you notice some signs like abuse, lack of trust, lack of communication, and disrespect, it may be some signs that your relationship is failing, and time to call it off. Even when you try your best to put the relationship together, the damage may be too severe.
What are red flags in a relationship? Red flags are warning signs that indicate unhealthy or manipulative behavior. They are not always recognizable at first — which is part of what makes them so dangerous. However, they tend to grow bigger and become more problematic over time.
If you feel like you're playing a part, behaving and responding based on how you think you should rather than authentically, you might want to reassess what's going on. If you're not able to be authentically yourself around your partner, flaws and bad moods and all, it might not be the right relationship for you.
If it tampers with your self esteem.
A relationship that reduces your self worth is not worth it. Relationships are meant to build up and not tear down. If you notice your self esteem is going down, then this is a cue for you to either work it out with your partner or take a bow out of the relationship.
Due to the extreme transition between relationships, the focus on equilibrium rather than building on a relationship and doing the work of setting boundaries or having open communication can eventually lead to monotony. Even once in a healthy relationship, the new dynamic can seem unfamiliar.
If a relationship stops bringing joy, and instead consistently makes you feel sad, angry, anxious or “resigned, like you've sold out,” it may be toxic, Glass says. You may also find yourself envious of happy couples. Fuller says negative shifts in your mental health, personality or self-esteem are all red flags, too.
You tend to manipulate things
Manipulation ranges from gaslighting and lying to hiding information from your partner. If you're doing any of these things, you're clearly manipulating your partner and are the toxic one in the relationship. Ultimately, it will only erode your partner's love and respect for you.
Described by Dr Stephen Karpman first in the '60s, The Drama Triangle consists of three dysfunctional roles fitting magnetically together: the Victim (the person in distress calling for help), the Persecutor (the villain, bullying and superior), and the Rescuer (the hero, overly responsible and controlling).
Emotionally unstable individuals tend to complain frequently and have a strong sense of entitlement, creating an air of negative energy around them. In talking to them, they may simply feel too intense. During a conversation with an emotionally unstable partner, you may notice their sense of empathy is impaired.
The four behaviours are Blaming, Contempt, Defensiveness and Stonewalling. Relationship expert Dr John Gottman termed these "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse" as they spell disaster for any personal or professional relationship.