Toxic Friends: Should You Stay or Walk Away?

Deciding to end a close friendship can be just as difficult as going through the process of actually ending it; even if it's a toxic one. So what do you do when you're faced with the sometimes tough decision of whether or not to remain in a toxic friendship or walk away from it?

Many people find themselves trapped in toxic friendships because they don't want to go through the painful process of ending it. They find themselves holding on to a small glimmer of hope that somehow their friend's behavior will change and the friendship will get better. Of course there's nothing wrong with hope and optimism, however; at some point the true facts about your toxic friendship must take precedence over the feelings and emotions that become obstacles in your perception of reality.

Let's face it, if you have been in your toxic friendship for a significant amount of time and your friend's behavior hasn't changed for the better or has gotten progressively worse, chances are he/she has no intentions of changing it. Now that's reality for you! So now what do you do?

You can choose to remain in the friendship and alter your own behavior to accommodate the needs of your toxic friend or you can walk away from the toxicity. Believe me; if you're spending a lot of emotional time and energy on the drama of your friendship, it's not even worth risking your mental health for the sake of your toxic friend. Remaining in an unhealthy friendship will most likely cause you more emotional harm than good.