Not everyone is a joy to be around, but that doesn’t necessarily make them a bad person. However, a person who consistently has a negative impact on us can be toxic. They can slowly erode our own positivity and wellbeing. While you may want to give these people the benefit of the doubt, you can choose to limit your interactions with them for your own mental and emotional wellness.

How to identify the toxic person in your life:

1: They’re usually a bad listener.

A toxic person will usually give little – to no – acknowledgement of what you have said. Often they steer the conversation back to themselves.

2: They play the victim.

Toxic people are always looking for someone to blame. Things are never their fault, and even if it is, they’d never admit it.

3: They are super judgemental.

Have you ever heard a person make an incredibly rude statement about someone in the room that they’ve never even met? This is a habit of a toxic person.

4: They’re the centre of attention.

And if they aren’t, they’re extremely unhappy. They’ll usually seek to regain the spotlight by interrupting, dominating, or taking control.

5: They’re disrespectful.

Whether it a disrespect towards property or people, if it doesn’t affect them directly, they don’t care.

6: They interrupt.

These people are always in “me-mode”. Their thoughts and ideas always take precedence over what you have to offer in an interaction with them.

7: They talk themselves up.

Mother Theresa never had to tell people that she was kind and loving, she just lived it. A toxic person might volunteer verbal evidence of their merit, often without being asked.

8: They are abusive.

Whether by physical or emotional abuse, a toxic person will need to establish dominance over others.

9: They’re “clique-ish”

They see people outside of their group as unworthy of recognition. They look down on all and consider themselves to be above everyone else.

Toxic people might not always be so obvious. Sometimes it can take a while before you start to recognise some of these behaviours. Just know that you have value and you deserve to be treated as such.

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