How do I know if I'm in a toxic relationship?

You spend more time hurt than happy. You will find yourself making excuses for their behaviour. You start to lose confidence in yourself and distance yourself from your friends

If you are dreading the relationship and you are not happy being in it then you are definitely not in a good place in your relationship. The relationship becomes toxic when someone is cheating on the other, there is no trust and respect between both parties, abuse is in the relationship.

If the person isn't treating you the way you deserve to be treated. If someone is taking advantage of you or your feelings, you are in a toxic relationship.

When you wouldn't treat yourself the way your partner treats you. That's when you have to reflect and see if you would want someone like that in your life.

There are questions to ask yourself and be brutally honest. For example : Am I walking on egg shells? Do we have separate lives including friends, hobbies, things we enjoy doing apart from our relationship? Does my partner allow me time to spend with friends, family? During arguments do you feel afraid for your safety or the safety of others around you (including pets in the house)? Do you feel like your partner is respectful of your boundaries (including saying no to sex)? Has your partner ever slapped, hit, punched, kicked, spit on, degraded, yelled at you or ever made you feel afraid? Toxic relationships literally suck the life out of a person. You can't see it but others can see the light inside you dim until it's finally gone. You look in the mirror one day and don't recognize who you have become.

It's hard to see what's best for yourself when you're invested in a relationship. It's not always easy to remember who you are and what you want. You can start to lose yourself and forget to make yourself and your happiness a priority. There is a lot of sh*t we put up with because the pain certain relationships bring us is less intimidating than the pain of letting go of the person you love. There's nothing wrong with admitting a relationship has run its course. Even if you can't conceptualize your life without that person, with time and distance, you'll be able to see the relationship for what it was: toxic as hell. 1. Passive aggression The whole "I hate it when you do that, but I'm just gonna keep it to myself and throw you shady little side glances" thing is unnecessary. Once you're not comfortable being direct with your SO, you've lost that bond on which your relationship was initially built. 2. Jealousy and the blame game We're all only human, so jealousy will happen on some level. But, excessive jealousy is never okay. If you don't have trust in a relationship, you literally have nothing worth holding on to. 3. Criticism and contempt No one is perfect, and the closer you become with someone, the more conspicuous his or her imperfections will become. There is nothing wrong with criticism that comes from a positive place. When criticism is used as a channel to express contempt or disdain for someone else, it can make the other person feel unvalued and worthless. It's hard for a relationship to come back from that. 4. Arguing without communicating We all know that yelling over each other won't get you anywhere. It's natural to get upset and argue, but if there's no exchange of communication and neither party conveys why he or she feels how he or she does, nothing will be solved. 5. Negative energy Feeling uncomfortable or tense around someone is just your body reacting to the negative energy surrounding the two of you. Negativity can drain you mentally, physically and emotionally. We're forced to deal with this stuff, but your SO should be a reprieve from that type of stress. 6. Avoiding each other At the bare minimum, you should be able to tolerate your SO's presence. If you can't even bring yourself to be around him or her, you should really just call it quits. 7. You're not yourself Change will happen regardless. When you're in a relationship, even if you both change, you should be going in the same direction. If your relationship changes you, it should only make you a better version of yourself. If you feel like you're losing yourself or you don't recognize who you are anymore, it's not healthy. 8. Feeling like there's no point There is a difference between staying in a relationship because you're comfortable and staying because you truly want to be there. If you feel like your relationship isn't going anywhere, why waste the time? That's time you'll look back on with regret, but that you'll never be able to relive. 9. You only think about making him or her happy Once you hit your 20s, relationships are a trial run for marriage. You should be able to see potential in spending the rest of your life with your significant other because if not, what's the point? You should want to make your SO happy, but it should be a two-way street. Your happiness should mean his or her happiness and vice versa. If you're constantly trying to make them happy, but you're not getting anything in return, then something in the cycle is disjointed. Happiness should be mutual. 10. You can't seem to do anything right Once you get to the point where you feel like everything you do upsets him or annoys her, and you're tiptoeing around in your own relationship, you need to understand that you aren't the problem. There is something with which your significant other is unhappy and he or she isn't communicating that to you. Until he or she is honest with why he or she is really frustrated, nothing you do will seem to be enough. 11. Growth and change are seen as negatives Relationships have to evolve in order to last. The whole "why can't things just stay like this" mentality isn't conducive to a long-term relationship. At some point, someone will want more. That's not a bad thing, but both parties must be on the same page. There's nothing wrong with taking the next step; doing so is a sign of maturity. 12. Reminiscing on the beginning instead of looking toward the future Memories of the honeymoon phase are not enough to sustain you. You can't relive the past. Relationships develop, but not always for the better. Fantasizing about what used to be is not living in reality. 13. You're just not happy anymore What it really comes down to is happiness. You don't have to justify why you aren't happy anymore. It isn't realistic to expect to be happy in every moment of your relationship, but as a whole, this person should make you happier. He or she should make you feel supported and capable of doing whatever the hell it is you want to do. You should know that even though you don't have control of every aspect of your life and things will fall apart, this person gives you stability. He or she helps you rebuild and gives you hope that things can be the way you think they should be. If you don't have that, is it really worth it?

You can tell if you are in a toxic relationship when you ask yourself: Am I being hurt or am I happy. Always remember that if you are not consentually being in that relationship then you need to call the police or a trusted adult.

Any relationship that does not make you (or the other person) happy to be in is an unhealthy relationship. The relationship is toxic when the one partner is "above" the other, and/or is causing negative feelings to the other.

A healthy relationship will make you feel like you are safe and free to be yourself. You'll never feel trapped with your partner, and they won't ruin your chances at being happy. A toxic relationship will, however, give you bad self esteem, make you feel unsafe, misunderstood or caged.