by Nancy Horton

Created on: January 05, 2009   Last Updated: February 09, 2009

Toxic relationships can be formed from many different types of people in your life. They quite possibly can be with a co-worker or boss, it can be with a parent or child, a friend, or a lover... to just name a few. These relationships can be short term, lasting for days perhaps; or long term, lasting for years at a time. Some toxic relationships can be simply a pain in your neck or frustrating. And there are those which can be more intense by affecting you emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually; changing who you truly are as a person in the long run.

Never the less who this individual is, this toxic relationship is harmful to you as a human being in one way or another. And quite possibly harmful to others around you as well. They bring you down emotionally and can even cause lack of self esteem which can affect you for years. They can cause mental turmoil rather you realize it or not, causing your authentic self to suddenly have an unstable foundation for everyday living; even simple decisions can suddenly cause a debate in your head. Of course many people have been in toxic relationships which have been physically abused in many different ways, and unfortunately even some whom became a victom of murder, etc. And last but not least, there are toxic relationships which affect a person spiritually, causing them to completely break down in every way. And too many times, a person may experience all of this, emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual just in one relationship only.

Acknowledging the fact that this relationship is toxic is the first step in recovering. Without acknowledgement, nothing will be done to resolve the situation. Acknowledgement includes understanding that this relationship does not work as it is, and that it needs to come to an end. And in many cases it is a permanent ending, not temporary. The reason for this is because in many cases even though you are working to improve yourself, the other individual isn't working to improve themselves. And so long as they don't improve themselves, then a continued relationship with this individual will only keep you wrapped up in the turmoil which you long to get out of. In other words, nothing changes.

There are few cases where both individuals agree on the fact that they both need to work on themselves to change things, and do so for the sake of the relationship, to save it. And in this case it is temporary. And in most of these cases the individuals truly do love one another, and need one

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