Psychological Effects of Harmful Relationships
Psychological Effects of Harmful Relationships
Your bad relationships are damaging to more than just your social status. Whether you’re struggling with a romantic relationship gone wrong or a toxic friendship, it’s important to recognize the lasting effects of these types of people in your life. Everyone deserves to have positive, beneficial relationships, but sometimes people turn out to be abusive in their own ways.
Even if you started your romantic relationship or friendship in a healthy way, things could still go south quickly if you aren’t careful. Not only do you need to know how to recognize the warning signs of an abusive or harmful relationship, but you should know the psychological effects to prevent them from happening to you.
Lasting Anger
We all get angry from time to time when things don’t go our way. Unfortunately, after a toxic relationship ends, people are left feeling angry. This anger goes beyond that of traditional pain, and it can last months or even years if not dealt with properly. Even if the relationship doesn’t end, it’s likely to cause chronic anger that leaves long-term scars on your mental health. Years of emotional abuse are shown to lead to anger, resentment, and ongoing pain.
Trust Challenges
It’s hard to realize that the one you love didn’t have your best interest at heart. Being hurt over and over again by those we held the closest leads to trust challenges that run deep. Not only will victims of abuse and emotional trauma struggle to trust their other friends and family, but these scars will last years or even a lifetime.
Overcoming trust issues usually involves therapy. The person will need to understand what led to this broken trust in the first place and learn to recognize signs that a person is genuine in their intentions. This is a road that is not easy to travel.
Jealousy
While jealousy always rears its green head from time to time, it becomes unhealthy when it is persistent in a person’s life. People who have struggled with harmful relationships in the past might feel jealous of all other healthy relationships. This can lead them to turn this pain inward, and they might search for a problem within themselves.
An inward focus is usually the result of gaslighting from the past relationship. Gaslighting is a form of emotional abuse in which the abuser manipulates the victim into blaming themselves for all of the problems in the relationship and beyond. To learn more about gaslighting and how to recognize it in your own relationships, check out 50 Shades Of Gaslighting: Disturbing Signs An Abuser Is Twisting Your Reality.
Anxiety
Feeling anxiety every once in a while is normal, but when it becomes chronic it can be detrimental to your mental health. Those who have struggled with harmful relationships likely will continue to feel anxiety even after it ends. Studies show that those who have healthy, steady relationships have higher levels of mental health than those who suffer from the ongoing conflict in relationships whether it is physical or emotional.
This anxiety can even escalate to PTSD or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in victims of extreme abuse. Ongoing problems in relationships can lead to victims expecting this same pattern of events even when they’re no longer in contact with this person. Living with anxiety or PTSD on a daily basis requires ongoing emotional intervention and assistance. It can be crippling, and it shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Free From Abuse
Unfortunately, many people across the globe suffer from emotional and physical abuse in their relationships. It’s important to know the signs of abuse and to never take threats lightly. Even small things can add up to a dangerous situation if you aren’t careful. The emotional and psychological effects of abuse are plentiful, and they don’t always lessen over time.
How can you protect yourself and those you love from this kind of trauma? Learn to recognize the early signs of abuse in your own life, and keep a vigilant eye for those around you. It’s important to be proactive about your own relationships. Remember that people change, but you can react accordingly to keep yourself safe.
