It's the month of love, and unsurprisingly, relationships have been ending left and right.

In the past, I have been a big advocate of healthy relationships, and I still am that way. These relationships can be romantic or friendly. However, I think that some people are not aware of the little things that add up to an unhealthy relationship.

Toxicity is something that builds up over time in a relationship. You can love and care for someone but still have a toxic relationship with a person. Despite it being hard to notice when a relationship has come to the end, there are signs that a relationship with a person is no longer healthy.

1. No communication

A healthy relationship with any person must maintain communication. If someone has an issue, those issues must be addressed before negative energy begins to envelop into a relationship. In a relationship, people involved are supposed to be able to talk to one another without fear that talking about a problem will end in an altercation. If you are not able to talk about your problems with one another, it only leads to tension building until there is a palpable problem. Not communicating leads to more issues because it only lets problems fester like old wounds until they are eventually infected.

2. No trust

Just being able to talk is only half the battle though. One must be able to talk about their problems, but one must also be able to listen. You can not make your own assumptions about someone without being able to listen to what they are saying. Without trust, communicating will be pointless. If you are not going to be able to trust what someone else is saying to you, there is no base the relationship. You have to be able to trust that whatever your partner or friend is telling you the truth. If you do not trust something that your significant other is saying, then the relationship is already at its end.

3. No loyalty

Loyalty is something that should be there from the beginning to the end. No matter the toxicity that is involved in a relationship, one must remember that there still use to be love and care in that relationship. Despite the angst that is now in the relationship, there should still be some kind of loyalty. If someone is willing to betray you or hurt you in any way, it really makes you question whether they view the relationship (whether romantic or friendly) the same way you have.

4. No honesty

I am a firm believer in the phrase, "Honesty is the best policy." One of the biggest reasons relationships fail is because of lies. When someone is not honest about their issues or themselves, it leads to the animosity that builds up. When you are honest, problems are addressed as soon as they become a problem. If someone in the relationship is not being honest, then it leads to the destruction of the entire basis of a relationship. Honesty is something that everyone craves; therefore, without honesty, it is only the beginning of an eventual end.

Every relationship whether romantic or not should have these four things in order to function. As soon as these things leave, there is only a limited time before the entire relationship begins to flail.