Toxic Relationships: Enmeshment

Toxic Relationships
Pay attention to the following red flags:

1. Walking on eggshells – you find yourself walking on eggshells all the time for fear of upsetting your partner
2. Can’t speak freely – you can’t speak about your thoughts, feelings or needs openly without fearing negative
repercussions
3. It’s always about them – your relationship is always about pleasing, listening to, or upholding the other person –
but they never return the favor
4. Abandoning values – you compromise your own values, interests, friendships, etc. to keep the relationship
5. Feeling drained and depressed – you mostly feel drained, depressed or distressed around your partner
6. Playing the role of parent or therapist – you often find yourself in the role of therapist or parent to your partner,
rather than an adult in a relationship
7. Being made fun of – your partner makes fun of your flaws and sensitivities whether passively (by treating you
“less than”) or actively (through name-calling or insults)
8. Being taken advantage of – your partner takes advantage of you financially, emotionally, mentally or sexually
9. Always agreeing with them – you always feel the need to agree with your partner (or else there will be negative
consequences)
10. Constant drama – you always feel a sense of endangerment around them as drama/chaos seems to follow them
everywhere
11. Strict roles – you feel like you have to play a role and if you dare change, your whole relationship will crumble
(this is known as enmeshment)
12. Jealous of your success – instead of celebrating your triumphs, your partner feels compelled to drag you down
13. Brings out the worst in you – instead of helping you to be the best version of yourself possible, your partner
fuels your shadow self and seems to enjoy watching you self-destruct
14. Regressing instead of progressing – on a personal and spiritual level, you move backward instead of forwards
and your self-growth stagnates around your partner
15. No support – you can’t turn to each other for emotional and mental support in times of need
16. Unreliable – you can’t trust your partner to offer financial support, lend a helping hand, or even turn up to
appointments or commitments on time
17. Deception, suspicion, and paranoia – there is an implicit lack of truthfulness in your relationship and you may
have caught your partner red-handed in many lies
18. Self-absorption – they are wound up in their own problems, goals, desires, and so are you – there is no meeting
point or mutual ground to connect on
19. Contempt – there is an undercurrent of festering anger in your relationship that manifests as sarcasm, negative
and condescending tones of voice, curled lips, and eye-rolling
20. Disrespecting boundaries – you struggle to maintain clear physical, emotional, mental or spiritual boundaries –
and your partner may enjoy overstepping them
21. Submission/domination – there are issues of control in your relationship and one person will enjoy lording it
over the other resulting in numerous emotional and psychological games
22. Non-stop obstacles – all relationships go through bumpy periods, but in yours it is never-ending
23. Feeling unworthy – your self-worth has dropped to an all-time low and you carry a feeling of persistent
worthlessness while being around your partner
24. Keeping count of wrongdoings – instead of moving on from the past, there is a toxic fixation and
“scorekeeping” of all past fights, arguments, and grievances
25. Lack of self-responsibility – your partner doesn’t take responsibility for their mistakes or their happiness
26. Justifying bad behavior – you always find yourself trying to excuse or justify the selfish, immature or nasty
behavior displayed by your partner
27. Unequal division of labor – you feel like you have to do all the emotional work in the relationship while your
partner gets to be rude, cold, unreliable or immature
How many of these signs can you relate to? The more you agree with, the more toxic your relationship is.

Toxic Relationships: Enmeshment

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Toxic Relationships: Enmeshment

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Toxic Relationships: Enmeshment

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Toxic Relationships

Pay attention to the following red flags:

You might also like