Realizing your relationship is toxic can make breaking up easier, but moving on from someone who makes you feel unaccepted or anxious is a step you absolutely have to make, the sooner the better.
Find out how to get out of a toxic relationship, from finding the courage to surrounding yourself with people who can help. If your partner is taking a lot from you emotionally with or without giving anything back, here’s how to start the process of recovery for yourself.
Get in Touch with Your Emotions
The first thing you need to do is accept that your significant other is the reason for your misery. If you feel criticized or controlled in a way that’s clearly negative, embrace that. Healthy relationships are based on mutual respect and support. If you’re not getting that, and instead you find yourself subjected to a judgmental or belittling attitude, accept that the relationship is toxic and it has to end.
Stop Blaming Yourself
When you want to get out of a toxic relationship, it’s important to work on your self esteem and inner strength. You can’t blame yourself for your partner’s damaging attitude. Nobody deserves to feel weak, anxious or constantly criticized in a relationship. You didn’t do anything to deserve it, and you have to find the strength to move from the destructive person you mistakenly trusted with your heart.
Find Support Outside of the Relationship
Start focusing on the positive and supportive people in your life. Even if you lost touch with some of them, start reconnecting. Having a good support system is very important in moving on from a toxic partner. Friends and family can be very helpful when it comes to breaking up with someone who clearly makes you miserable.
More: Worst Ways to Break Up with Someone
Use Helpful Affirmations
Building the confidence to get out of a toxic relationship is easier if you use positive affirmations. Start telling yourself that you deserve better, that you can be happy. Any kind of motivational message can help you if it’s positive and you make the effort to repeat to yourself when you’re feeling down.
Have a Plan
If your toxic partner is also controlling, it’s important to have a plan in place before the break up. You can even ask positive people to help you out in creating and executing your plan. Figure out what you have to say to your future ex and how you can put an end to any connection you have, so you can move on with your life.
Visualize the Breakup
When you’re trying to get out of a toxic relationship, visualizing it can be very helpful in building up courage to go through with it. Consider yourself broken up and allow yourself a sigh of relief before actually doing it. That might help you end it quicker and easier.
Don’t Extend the Process
Depending on how manipulative your toxic partner is, it’s important to keep the breakup as short as possible. If you’ve made up your mind, don’t let yourself get dragged into long discussions, especially since you know he only wants to keep emotionally abusing you, and he’ll probably say anything to get you to stay.
Sever Any Ties
Once you get out of a toxic relationship, it’s important to sever all ties. You’ve already wasted more time than you should have with him, and keeping it touch will not do you any good. Of course, if children are involved, things aren’t that clear cut. If your decision doesn’t affect anyone but you, walk away and never look back.
See also: Get over a Breakup Faster
Start Healing
Things won’t get rosy right away once you end a toxic relationship. You have a lot of work ahead of you, when it comes to rebuilding your confidence. Start healing on your own terms, but always make sure that you have both alone time and time with positive and supportive people who genuinely care about you.
Accept That It Gets Easier with Each Passing Day
Change can be very scary, but once you’ve managed to get out of a toxic relationship, it will get easier. If you’ve been neglecting yourself, focus on both your emotional and intellectual needs and find the right way to get back to loving yourself. Once you do that, you’ll be ready for a new relationship.
