How to Spot a Toxic Friend
5 ways they harm your well-being.
BFF. Buddy. Pal. Crony. Mate. Chum. Your person. Whatever name you give them, undoubtedly, friends make the journey through life richer.
According to clinical psychologist Dr. Andrea Bonior, Ph.D., author of The Friendship Fix: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Losing, and Keeping Up With Your Friends, having strong relationships can make you physically healthier, more emotionally stable, empathetic and resilient. The benefits of strong friendship connections are many.
The path may not always be smooth. While you might realize on some level that certain behaviours from a friend don’t feel right, spotting the traits of a toxic friendship can be particularly difficult as they can sneak up on you and aren’t always obvious.
The critical difference between a one-off disagreement with a friend and toxic behaviour is that these behaviours comprise a pattern that leaves you feeling worse after being in contact with them. Another way of looking at this is to consider whether your friend is just having a bad day vs. giving you bad vibes.
Dr. Bonior states that a toxic friendship “emotionally harms you, rather than helping you.” Letting a toxic friend go is difficult, but the first step is recognizing some of the signs that a friendship or behaviour…
