The difference between a toxic person and a narcissist

The word narcissist is unfortunately thrown around a little too much nowadays, so it’s important to explore the key differences between narcissistic individuals and toxic individuals.

All narcissists are toxic but not all toxic people are narcissistic. Just because someone has a toxic behaviour, it doesn’t mean that they have a personality disorder. Let’s not forget that someone who is a narcissist, has NPD, which means they meet the criteria as listed in the DSM. Also, seeing someone as toxic is a subjective experience. Something that you may consider toxic, someone else may not have a problem with.

Check out the latest video above for more detailed information.

Love Athina

One sided friendships

A one-sided friendship is a relationship where one person puts in all the effort, while the other person contributes very little. In this type of friendship, one person is always there for the other, but the same level of support and effort is not reciprocated. One-sided friendships seem to be common for those of us who have experienced childhood abuse or neglect. One-sided friendships seem to resemble the unhealthy dynamic we grew up in with an emotionally immature parent. In this dynamic we were constantly ‘giving’ and looking after the parent, hoping for some care and attention in return. Sadly we only got crumbs of attention and it wasn’t even positive.

A lot of us tend to feel that we want the friendship more than the other person, that it is more important to us than it is for them. We feel needier towards that friendship and then feel ashamed for feeling this way. This seems to be a theme that is repeated in our life.

When this happens we start wondering whether it is even possible to form a healthy, reciprocal friendship? The answer is YES, it is possible but only if we acknowledge and respect our boundaries and think about our worth.  How far will we take a one-sided friendship until we finally give up on it?

How many chances do we give the person? 

Would we rather be alone than have a couple of one-sided friendships that don’t enrich our lives? 

What is healthier for us?

Feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

Love Athina