Toxic people are those who negatively impact your life, whether that be through words or actions, and cause you to feel worse about yourself. When we think about why toxic people act as they do, it can be hard to understand or fathom the process behind severely negative behaviour. Ultimately, what matters is detaching ourselves from people who make us feel bad. We have to put ourselves first and understand that our comfort matters in relationships, instead of putting people who are bad to us first out of guilt.
How to Identify Toxic People
Toxic people negatively impact your life. Do you have people in your life who say careless and rude things to and about you? Who are deceitful or two-faced? Who seem to tell various versions of the truth to various people? Do you feel as though some people are purposefully sabotaging events in your life or creating crossed wires to damage your other relationships? Sometimes people do these things without us even noticing it. One way of identifying toxic people is to confront them about their toxicity. Look out for false or manipulatively emotional apologies, intense denial and aggressive behaviour. All three different responses indicate that the person is aware of what they are doing.
The effects of toxic people can be far-reaching, ranging from complete emotional collapse to destroyed sense of self-esteem and problems with processing events due to gaslighting. We may find ourselves stressed and angry after a difficult encounter with a toxic person.
The Cause
What makes toxic people toxic? It’s a question which is hard to answer, as there is no definitive answer. Sometimes people who act toxically have themselves been victims of toxic behaviour from their parents or friends. Other people are simply toxic out of a need for control or a desire to manipulate social situations without a definitive reason. What can be hard to understand is that despite the shortcomings which make toxic people toxic, and while you can express sympathy for them, you have no obligation to stay in contact with people who treat you badly or make your life worse.
The Opposite
When we think about the opposite of toxic people, we may consider with a healthy grasp of their emotions, a lack of need to control others and a generally more positive mindset than other people. These are traits we can all have which we can all work on for ourselves. Learning and growing is important, and toxic people can certainly do this, but behaving warily towards those who claim to have grown is perfectly rational too. Surround yourself with people who make you want to be a better person, whose company you mutually enjoy, and who make you feel good about yourself.
Guided Meditation
The power of guided meditation means that we can distance ourselves from toxicity and seek to develop positive traits within that deflect from the toxic influences of our life. By developing a stronger relationship with the self we can be happier and more comfortable handling negative situations.