1. You teach yourself that you're not worthy of respect

If there was one thing that all of my toxic relationships definitely lacked; it was respect. My boundaries were crossed time and time again and somehow I was the one at fault. It didn't matter how uncomfortable I felt, whether my safety and well-being was at risk, I had to comply. Let me tell you there's not a person in the world who deserve that level of power over you. Not a friend, not a parent, not a boss, nobody. Say it until you believe it.

2. You set yourself up for more toxic relationships

This one kind of relates to the first one, but our brain is very good at recognizing patterns. If you keep throwing toxic relationships at it, they become the norm and suddenly you've been through 2, 3, 4, and counting toxic relationships. I've been in more than I can count on one -- possibly two -- hand(s).

Don't be like me.

3. You don't have anyone in the good or bad times

They tear you down or invalidate you when you succeed and treat you like an untouchable when you have a bad day. It's a lose-lose situation no matter what and either you've invested too much time or are too distracted just to walk away. Days turn into weeks turn into months until you *might* choose to pull yourself out and find someone new. But the damage is already done by then.

4. You re-wire your brain and your immune system...for the worse

There's this field called epigenetics which looks at how the environment can shape your genes. That's right, nature meets nurture head-on. When people are exposed to chronic stress, their serotonin (a neurotransmitter in your brain that regulates mood) levels go haywire.

Their immune systems can be compromised for the rest of their lives and their behavior tends to change for the worse. Namely, they might start actively seeking out stress because they become so used to stressful environments that they become distressed from non-stressful ones. Psychology, ya'll! *jazz hands*

5. Your self-esteem gets eroded

Chances are your toxic relationship involves being demeaned, invalidated, insulted, gaslighted, etc. on a near-daily basis. Which isn't exactly helpful for developing a strong identity you can grow to love to say the least.

6. You could end up in physical danger

Two of my many toxic relationships involved physical abuse. Needless to say, I was in physical danger quite a bit of the time and the consequences astronomically outweighed the benefits in those situations. In fact, I don't think there even were any benefits.