7 Red Flags That Your Relationship Is Toxic

Relationships, whether romantic or otherwise, should add value to your life. While no relationship is perfect, in a healthy one, the good outweighs the bad, and you generally feel safe, understood, and supported.

A toxic relationship, on the other hand, has more bad than good. You may feel perpetually tense, misunderstood, attacked, or even mentally or physically unsafe.

UK pop star Lily Allen has lived through this. Her 2025 album West End Girl is a 14-track narrative about the disintegration of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour, told with an openness that makes listeners wince in recognition.

Allen has described the songs as a blend of fact and fiction, but the themes are unmistakable: boundary-pushing around an open relationship, suspicions of cheating, gaslighting, and the steady erosion of trust. The couple confirmed their separation earlier this year, and Allen has said the album helped her process what happened.

Taken together, the lyrics read like a stage play of a relationship tipping from “intense” into unhealthy.

If you listened to her album and found yourself nodding along at lines about secrets, shifting stories, or a feeling of walking on eggshells, you too may have survived a toxic relationship — or perhaps you’re currently in one.

“There isn't a clinical diagnosis of a toxic relationship, but couples therapists think of relationships kind of in those terms,” says Tracy Ross, LCSW, a couples and family therapist in New York City. She notes that the difference between a toxic relationship and one that can be worked on is that “there isn’t a taking of responsibility or accountability on one person’s part” in toxic relationships.

Lee Phillips, EdD, psychotherapist and certified sex and couples therapist in New York City, agrees that while the term toxic doesn’t have a clinical meaning, it’s still useful for therapists to help people understand unhealthy patterns in relationships. “I would define toxic as an ongoing conflict that keeps happening [and] nothing changes in the relationship to be healthier,” he says.

“When you’re trying to fully control someone’s behavior, how they spend their time, and who they spend their time with, that’s beyond toxic — that’s an abusive relationship,” says Ross.

Abusive relationships are often deliberately harmful, while toxic relationships are emotionally damaging and draining but not deliberately aimed to harm or dominate — the root causes are different, she says.

Warning signs that signal your relationship could be toxic often appear early on, but you may not acknowledge them until things become problematic. Here are seven to watch for.

1. Love Bombing

Love bombing is a behavior often seen in people who have narcissistic or borderline personality disorders. At first, it may be exciting that a new partner is so eager to be with you, but then things may start to feel off. Ross describes it as feeling too good to be true..

“The person might make you feel amazing and on top of the world some of the time, then there’s a switch — now you’re being ignored, criticized, blamed,” she says.

As you wait around for the adoration to return, the “love bomber” says or implies that the off-and-on behavior is actually because of you, not them.

“You are told you did something to make it go away and therefore you can bring it back,” says Ross.

2. Constant Stress

All relationships have conflict at some point or another, but if you’re feeling constant stress, it’s probably not a healthy dynamic.

Toxic relationships are often characterized by unpredictability, extreme highs and lows, jealousy, and lack of accountability where one person generally ends up on the defensive, says Ross.

“Interactions often leave one or both people feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and worn out, and attempts to resolve issues or misunderstandings result in character assaults and criticism,” she says.

You might feel like it’s easier not to tell others about certain behaviors or details of the relationship because they wouldn’t understand, creating more tension for you.

“If you’re covering things up [and] justifying behavior that you know on some level is wrong,” says Ross, that’s a red flag. She adds that a feeling of walking on eggshells or having constant drama are signs things aren’t heading in a healthy direction.

3. Gaslighting

Gaslighting is a type of manipulation that happens over an extended period where one person causes the other to question their thoughts, memories, and even how they perceive reality. “Gaslighting leads to self-doubt, stress, nervousness, and loss of confidence,” says Ross.

It can take place in any relationship, from family to romantic.

Gaslighting is usually a red flag for spotting people who are manipulators, according to Phillips.

4. Lying

Lying, especially at the beginning of a relationship, can be an indicator of bigger problems in the relationship. Phillips notes that lying might be linked to infidelity or hiding compulsive addiction behavior. For example, he says, “I knew a case where someone was making money, but they were saying they didn’t have the money, and [the money] was going toward something else.”

On the other hand, if you feel like you can’t be honest with your partner about certain things because of how they might react, that’s a red flag, too.

5. Being Dismissive

In healthy relationships, people pay attention to each other’s needs. Being dismissive could look like “not willing to be involved in some other interests that a partner has,” says Phillips.

Dismissive behavior is not simply forgetting to attend an event after agreeing to it. This is an intentional attitude that can leave the other party feeling rejected.

“When we start to see narcissistic behavior, we tend to see dismissing,” says Phillips.

6. Attempts to Isolate You

If you’ve noticed other relationships dropping off because one person in your life doesn’t want you to associate with others, this is toxic behavior. A partner engaging in this behavior might say things like, “I don’t really like that friend, let’s not go out with them again” or “I don’t like your brother; let’s not see him again,” says Ross. “They feel slighted by people in your life and start building a case so that you can’t see them,” she explains.

Isolation attempts can go beyond toxic and get into abusive territory if the person becomes very controlling.

7. Defensiveness

Defensiveness could be an indicator that healthy changes or shifts may not be possible.

If you call out red flag behaviors early on in a relationship and get pushback or defensiveness, Ross says, “You have to ask yourself, is this something I can live with?”

She adds that as a therapist she can help people shift things if they want to, but “if the other person isn’t motivated to shift or change something or pay attention to it, they will not do it.”

If you think your relationship may be toxic or even abusive, seek the help of a licensed mental health professional, or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233). (You can also text START to 88788 or chat with the hotline.) In a life-threatening emergency, call 911.

Additional reporting by Becky Upham.

• Toxic relationships drain your energy and self-esteem, often leaving you feeling anxious, insecure, or unsafe.
• Warning signs include love bombing that turns critical, ongoing stress or drama, gaslighting, lying, isolation, and defensiveness when concerns are raised.
• If a partner is controlling, threatening, or physically or sexually abusive, reach out for help. Call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-SAFE (7233), text START to 88788, or, in an emergency, call 911.