11 Characteristics That Define a Toxic Person

The worst kind of person to have in your life is a toxic person. The very definition of a toxic person is someone who brings out the absolute worst in you, whether it’s a friendship, relationship, or even a family member.

Nobody should have to endure someone who drains the life out of them instead of filling them up.

However, we can’t always choose the people who enter our lives, but we have a say in who stays afterward. In this article, we’ll be talking about everything you need to know about toxic personality traits.

What is a Toxic Person?

One of the signs of a toxic person is someone who is both manipulative and abusive. If you haven’t heard the term gaslighting, it’s often used in toxic friendships and relationships where someone makes you question your own sanity and basically everything you’ve ever known.

For instance, if you aren’t okay with something and you open this up, that toxic person will make it seem like it’s your fault for feeling this way. This is just one of the many ways that a toxic person can break and destroy your life in several ways.

A toxic person also adds pure negativity and drama to your life and you always feel drained whenever you’re around them. Most importantly, a toxic person will manipulate you so that everything turns in their favor, and not yours.

They will control you until you feel so suffocated that you find it hard to walk away from that relationship or relationship. Toxic people can’t deal with the fact that they can’t control you.

11 Characteristics That Define a Toxic Person

1. They always blame you for everything wrong

In any kind of relationship, you should never be completely blaming someone else for everything that goes wrong in your life. You have a partial fault in that scenario, but so do they. A toxic person is someone who holds you accountable for every fault in a scenario and the worst part is, you believe them too.

2. They never admit their mistakes

No matter what happens, they never admit that they were wrong and they never apologize for any of it. In the rare circumstances they apologize, it was to make you feel bad and to gain something from you. In reality, a toxic person never means their apology sincerely.

3. They disregard your boundaries

Boundaries are a sign of both respect and love so when someone disrespects your boundaries repeatedly, that isn’t someone you want to keep around. If they know you aren’t comfortable with something and yet they push you to do it, that’s an automatic red flag.

4. They are dishonest

While everyone tells white lies every now and then, a toxic person will make a habit out of lying to you straight in your face. You don’t need someone dishonest because trust, love, and respect are all interconnected and trust is the very foundation of any relationship.

5. They play the victim

This is one of the defining factors of what makes someone toxic in your life. Even if it’s their fault, they  

will never be accountable for their actions instead, they’ll play the victim in the story so that you end up feeling bad for them instead. That’s what a toxic person can do in your life.

6. They invalidate your feelings

While your feelings and thoughts aren’t always valid, your partner or friend should make you feel heard and understood even just a little bit. When they make you feel your feelings don’t matter but theirs do, this is a huge red flag.

7. They don’t listen to you

You know someone is toxic when they only care about their needs above yours. Any relationship or friendship is about that mutual understanding that you get from them.

8. They are harsh towards others

When someone is kind towards you but is harsh towards others, they aren’t showing their genuine selves towards you. In fact, they may be masking their real personality for your sake. This is both toxic and manipulative, especially towards the receiving end of their behavior.

9. They make you question your sanity

Since they don’t make you feel appreciated or understood, they make you question everything regarding your sanity. You start to feel like you’re losing yourself in that friendship or relationship.

10. They are inconsistent

Inconsistent people are bad for your mental health, especially when they’re your romantic partner. One minute they’re into you and the next, they don’t want anything to do with you.

11. They are selfish

If you’re happy, then it means they should rain over your parade and can’t let the spotlight be on you, not even for just a second. Toxic individuals are the most selfish and arrogant people you’ll ever meet, thinking that the world revolves around just them.

Traits of a Toxic Person

• They drain every ounce of your energy and effort without giving back anything in return.

• They bring out your worst

• They control and manipulate you into their favor of things

• They aren’t good for your mental health

• They gaslight you intentionally

• They leave a trace of trauma and abuse that you can’t come back from

• They are selfish, narcissistic, and arrogant

• They only pretend to care about you to earn your trust

• They can’t stand the idea of you being better than them

• They invalidate your feelings and emotions

Final Thoughts

I hope this article was able to shed insight into everything you needed to know about toxic people. It’s easy to spot a toxic person as long as you know how to spot red flags when you see them. If you think someone is toxic, cut them off as early as you can before they gain control over you and you can no longer walk away.

Toxic people drain and exhaust you and no matter how bad you feel, you shouldn’t have to tolerate them. You deserve so much more than toxicity and to have that trauma and manipulation in your life.