TOXIC PARTNER RELATIONSHIPS: THE 15 MOST COMMON SYMPTOMS - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

The toxic relationships can occur in pairs, relatives, friends or acquaintances, and its main feature is that the relationship have negative consequences for both parties, one of the two members who usually have greater negative influence.

In this article you will find the characteristic symptoms that occur in toxic relationships that will help you discover if you find yourself in this situation.

When you feel the desire to share your life with a partner, you seek love and support from the other. May each day and each moment shared with that person signify positive emotions and make your life happy.

You also want that to be in both directions, meaning that the other person can also feel the same as you. But sometimes instead, every moment in common with your partner only makes you feel sad, outraged, or even worthless and then turns into toxic love.

When that situation is recurrent, it is that you are living a relationship that is detrimental to your mental well-being.

Main symptoms of toxic relationships

Pay attention to some of the following situations and behaviors, they may be signs that you are living a toxic relationship:

-There are frequent discussions

This is the most obvious. If the arguments are frequent it is clear that something is not working in the couple's relationship. Especially when it comes to insulting and destructive discussions.

-Frequent negativity

Negativity is contagious. If one member of the couple is very negative in life in general, it is possible that they transmit the negativity to the other person.

It is about interpreting life events negatively. For example, being unemployed can be the source of countless complaints or of seeing an opportunity to find a better job.

-A person is the one who leads the relationship

What does leadership mean in an emotional context? That one of the two people is the one who makes the important decisions, is the one who sets the times and is ultimately the one who defines the direction that this couple takes.

This situation is more likely to occur when one of the two members has a more permeable temperament when faced with certain pressures. Also a greater vulnerability makes the other take the reins of the couple.

This behavior is not healthy, although it can be very comfortable for someone who is "led" but in the long run, that person will feel devalued and little contributor.

It is essential that neither of the two members of the couple is emotionally dependent.

-Destroy other personal relationships

If a relationship has caused other previous relationships to be destroyed, it is necessary to stop and think.

For example, if a girl starts a relationship with a boy who by his behavior alienates the girl from her family, it is a toxic relationship. The fact is that family is a fundamental area of ​​anyone's life and having a relationship to destroy others is pointless.

-Improve professional or personal development

Relationships should exist to become better people, both relationally and professionally, not just to live together or have children.

If a couple makes us miserable and prevents us from achieving the goals that excite us, it is toxic, and not only prevents you from working on your dreams, but in the long term it will make you unhappy.

-The two members of the couple are co-dependent

Similar to the first sign, but in this case both people depend on each other. Sometimes it is easy to confuse love with dependence, because it is believed that to love one needs the other to live.

No one should need anyone to live in order to have a healthy relationship. Although it may seem that the pain of a separation will be unbearable, need or fear are never valid reasons to maintain a partner.

The main consequence this brings is resentment. Over time, a grudge grows towards the other. In the least expected moment the guilt will explode and the other will be the culprit of everything bad that is happening to you.

Each member must be responsible for himself and the decisions he makes, otherwise the problems will not take long to appear.

-One thing is asked but another is given

This is another common symptom of toxic relationships. In a healthy relationship, you are supposed to give to receive. That is, you have to be kind, be willing to contribute something positive to the life of the other person.

For example, if a girl tells her boyfriend that she wants him to spend Saturdays with her. The boy gives in, however the girl does not give in to the boy's objective requests.

If a member of the couple always asks for something, but he does not provide it himself or does not give in to other (objective) requests of the couple, it is a toxic relationship, which is also likely to provoke frequent arguments.

-The past tends to justify the present

When this happens, it is one of the main signs of a toxic relationship. Each person's past is used, with its positive and negative aspects, to justify current events.

Generally, in a toxic relationship, things that the other did wrong are used to blame them. When one of the two members of the couple, repeatedly speaks of the past to refer to the present actions, what they seek is to manipulate the other.

In the event that both of them “appeal” to this resource, this will result in a competition to see who was more wrong.

If this is happening to you, you are on the wrong path, because nothing good can be built from guilt and blame.

-When speaking in terms of "complete"

When a couple expresses and experiences certain behaviors in terms of completing each other, it is a clear sign that there are problems.

Frequently one hears phrases like, “in a true couple one completes each other”, or that “both find in the other what each one does not have”. This is a mistake, as each person must "complete" and meet their expectations for himself.

The fact that each one learns from the virtues of the other and understands their defects does not mean complementing each other. Each person has their flaws and their virtues and based on this is that they should try to improve every day.

You cannot look in the other for what I lack. If you really need something, try to cultivate and procure it yourself.

-When the lie is recurrent

If you are in a relationship where you know the other is hiding something from you, or where you are hiding something, then you are in a toxic relationship.

Never and under no circumstances should you justify this attitude, even if it is an omission. If there are things that you cannot say to the other person, either out of fear or lack of confidence, then it is a sign that things are not working as they should.

It is common for people in certain situations to omit to say things to their partner because they believe "they will react better" or simply do not want to make them bitter.

If your case is one of these, then you are lying. And the lie can never be justified.

-Blackmail is common

When emotional blackmail becomes a resource in a relationship, then you are in an unhealthy relationship.

For blackmail to occur, there must be two consenting parties. If you have to blackmail the other, you are not naturally getting the response you would like, and if that happens you have to talk about it.

If you are the blackmailed, it is because you have contributed to creating spaces for these unhealthy situations to be generated in a couple.

-Authentic forgiveness does not exist

When you are in a relationship where you cannot ask, receive, or offer forgiveness, simply because you know it would not be from the heart, then it is another sign of toxicity.

When there is no room in a couple for genuine and authentic forgiveness, there is not enough openness or willingness for that couple to grow.

Sometimes it is easy to say "I forgive you" but inside you a resentment remains, because it seems to you that what he did is very serious and you will not forget it.

When a short time after asking for forgiveness the situation is recurrent, then there was no sincerity when asking for forgiveness or accepting it.

-When in the relationship there is an aggressive and a passive member

People are different and it is expected that in a couple there is one who has a more prominent character than the other. But this does not mean that a relationship of domination should be established.

When the member who has a more passive character becomes the object of mistreatment, then the bond is unhealthy.

-The relationship has to be perfect

When a couple lives a projected relationship in perfect situations, it is not a healthy relationship. Nothing and no one can be based on ideal facts, for the simple reason that ideality and perfection do not exist.

When a couple thinks in terms of perfection and idealization, they are not living reality, so they are not growing.

-The relationship is in the background

If each member of the couple has independent projects, it is a good sign. However, the opposite extreme is negative: that there is no common plan.

For a healthy relationship to exist, it is recommended that you share projects in common with your partner and that you have projects and life apart.

Why do we get into a toxic relationship?

There are several reasons, but among the most common are the following:

-An almost uncontrollable desire to be in a relationship, just not to be alone. Such is the need you feel for having a partner that you are willing to pay any price.

In this case, there may be a dependency personality disorder.

-Low self-esteem. This can make the person justify many behaviors typical of an unhealthy relationship. A person may come to think that he is worthy of living a relationship that does not fully satisfy him. Feel that this is what you deserve, no more.

- Difficulty living in "solitude". Socially there is significant pressure when it comes to living alone. In fact, the word loneliness often takes on the wrong meaning in this context.

Being almost a synonym of failure, it is frowned upon to meet friends, and just to be the only one who is not in a relationship. "Poor! What a pity that he does not have a partner ”, is a common phrase to represent this behavior.

When a person is vulnerable, they become a partner at the first opportunity that crosses their path.

Conclusions

The good news is that you can get out of a toxic relationship, while the bad news is that it is usually not an easy process.

One of the big reasons why it is not easy is because many times it can be difficult to realize that you are involved in a toxic partner.

The family or the closest environment is the first to notice that the situation is not right. They see you sad and worried /, and are usually complicit in situations in which the couple shows their crisis.

Every human being has his or her strategy, but talking about it and seeking help are often the best tools when it comes to visualizing the problem in its true dimension.

Once you have achieved it, you can carry out the plan that best suits your case and thus end that relationship that makes you sick.

And have you experienced any of these signs of toxic relationships? I am interested in your opinion. Thank you!