Signs You Are Becoming a Toxic Friend

Learning to be self-aware is one of the greatest skills we can master if we want to have strong, healthy relationships that will last us a lifetime. Here are six red flags that you might becoming the toxic one in a relationship.

You are overly dependent on them

While friends should be supportive of one another, there should also be some give and take in your relationship. If you keep demanding and taking more of your friendship than you give, you may become a toxic friend. Are you overly dependent on your friend? Do you call them at the first sign of trouble or constantly need them to reaffirm your self-esteem whenever you feel down about yourself?

You make the conversations about yourself

Do you tend to dominate conversations and interrupt your friends to bring up yourself even when you don’t mean to? This behavior can suggest that you are more concerned with yourself than your friend. When you fail to create a proper balance in your friendship and take more than you give, it may be a sign that your friendship is becoming toxic. Healthy relationships entail taking turns to talk and listen.

You criticize

Do you constantly point out your friends’ flaws or insecurities to them? While you may claim this is done out of love, being overly harsh and critical can be detrimental to your friends because it can make them feel worse about their mistakes and damage their self-esteem. As a result, your friendship may deteriorate.

You do not care about them

If you care about your desires and needs and insist on doing things your way even when it inconveniences your friends, you are being inconsiderate about their feelings. Do you always force your friends to give in to what you want or become upset if you don’t get your way?

Healthy friendships revolve around compromise and mutual understanding, so if you consistently disregard your friends to get your way, you may develop a toxic friendship. Do you offer your friends advice even when they haven’t asked for it?

You try to control them

Do you frequently tell your friends what to do or who they should spend their time with? If so, you may be hurting your friendship with them by being overly controlling of them. Always remember that your friends can make their own decisions, even if your actions stem from insecurity or fear that they will replace you with someone else.

You envy their growth

Even though it’s common to occasionally feel jealous of others, it’s never a good idea to be so jealous of your friends that you cannot celebrate their achievements. Instead of supporting and cheering them on, you find yourself secretly competing with them in the hopes that they will fail, which is a sign of a toxic friendship.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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