How to End a Toxic Relationship

When you’re in a toxic relationship, your health and happiness usually get affected in a negative way. The toxic person can be your partner, friend, or even co-worker. They’re usually very disrespectful, unpredictable, jealous, and competitive toward you. You might also experience a lack of independence, and your self-esteem might decline dramatically.

5-Minute Crafts would like to tell you how to easily get out of this kind of relationship and how to return to a normal life afterward.

Before the breakup:

✅ Make a plan to leave the toxic person beforehand and tell trusted friends and family members about it. If you don’t have a place to stay when you end the romantic relationship, ask them if they can help you.

✅ If you depend on the toxic person financially, save as much money as possible before cutting off contact with them. This will help you move out more easily.

✅ Talk about your feelings to the toxic person and state how that person makes you feel without blaming them. Avoid phrases like, “You make me feel...” Instead, use phrases that express your own emotions like, “I feel very sad or angry when I hear you...”. This will help you talk about the problems in your relationship openly and, if the toxic person is ready to change their behavior, try to bring the relationship back to normal.

✅ You can also do it in a note, an email, or a text message to give that person time to think about your feelings and respond to them in a mature way.

✅ Make notes about your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in a journal on a daily basis. This will help you take a fresh look at what emotions you have when you are around that person and stop making excuses for their abusive behavior.

After breakup:

✅ Set boundaries and stick to them — completely remove the toxic person from your social media and have no further contact with them to make the healing process go faster.

✅ Find a friend or family member who will help you go through the healing process and provide emotional support. Every time you feel the urge to call or text the toxic person, reach out to them instead.

✅ Spend more time with friends and family that are in healthy and loving relationships to remind yourself of what “good love” means.

✅ You can also spend more time with animals, as they provide a good model of unconditional love and can help you feel less lonely.

✅ Seek a therapist who will help you cope with your emotions and restore your sense of self-worth.

✅ Do things that make you feel happy and practice self-care — meditate, take your dog for a walk, change your career, take a vacation, join a club, exercise, start a new hobby, treat yourself to your favorite meal, or just spend some time outside. This will boost your self-esteem and reduce stress.

✅ Set achievable goals for yourself and when you reach them, reward yourself. For example, don’t contact the toxic person for a week, and if you achieve this goal, take yourself out to lunch or to get a massage. This will remind you that you are still a good person and deserve to have positive things in your life.