

{"id":33243,"date":"2019-01-25T04:49:31","date_gmt":"2019-01-25T04:49:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/?p=33243"},"modified":"2023-01-25T04:49:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-25T04:49:31","slug":"toxicity-in-a-marriage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/mental-health\/toxicity-in-a-marriage\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning Signs of Toxicity in a Marriage"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33245 size-full\" title=\"Warning Signs of Toxicity in a Marriage\" src=\"https:\/\/image.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Warning-Signs-of-Toxicity-in-a-Marriage.jpg\" alt=\"Warning Signs of Toxicity in a Marriage\" width=\"804\" height=\"350\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">To love and to hold, until death does us part. It usually starts with a vow. A couple declares their love to the world and lives happily ever after. Unfortunately, this is not the case for almost half of those lovers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Divorce rates are decreasing, but it&rsquo;s not because of better relationships, but people are just not getting married. Modern couples are looking for signs of toxicity, trouble, and other factors that could adversely affect a long term commitment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">How about those who are already married? There are many factors why people stay together or fall apart. But these warning signs show that your relationship is going downhill.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"You-argue-about-money\"><\/span>You argue about money<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When couples just started dating, they have their own money. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Each one has the final say if they wish to spend their own money on their hobbies and can afford life&rsquo;s little luxuries. They have their own private lives while being in a relationship with someone else. Marriage changes things. One of the most significant change is handling finances.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sharing expenses and living arrangements can actually save money. That is if both parties are responsible people. There are a million examples of irresponsible money handling such as:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul><li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overspending<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiding income from your spouse<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unrecorded expenses<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Misaligned priorities<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Missing interest-bearing payments<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you or your spouse are arguing about any of the previously mentioned reasons and one party is shouldering the burden, then it&rsquo;s a sign that you&rsquo;re going to have problems ahead.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One-party-is-playing-a-domination-game\"><\/span>One party is playing a domination game<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Teens love to play this game, but some people do not grow out of it and carry on as adults.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They want to control their partners. Both sexes are guilty of it. They consider their other half as possessions and only care about what they want. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They do this because they believe that the other party is lucky to have them and it&rsquo;s their moral responsibility to remind them of that fact. They will use psychological warfare, coercion, blackmail, violence, and other means to maintain this self-induced delusion.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are martyrs out there who like to be treated this way. But most people would find this kind of relationship suffocating. This warning sign is a one-way ticket to divorce, jail, or a funeral.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One-or-both-of-you-are-repeatedly-cheating\"><\/span>One or both of you are repeatedly cheating<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This one is pretty self-explanatory. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are also lots of reasons why one or both partner cheats. It can range from emotional or sexual dissatisfaction up to the cheating party being simply a selfish prick. Whatever the reason, it is one sure way that you&rsquo;re relationship is not going to last much longer.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"One-or-both-of-you-does-not-value-being-in-the-relationship\"><\/span>One or both of you does not value being in the relationship<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-33246 size-full\" title=\"One or both of you does not value being in the relationship\" src=\"https:\/\/image.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/One-or-both-of-you-does-not-value-being-in-the-relationship.jpg\" alt=\"One or both of you does not value being in the relationship\" width=\"804\" height=\"350\"><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This may also sound like Mr. Obvious, but it is deeper and more common than most people believe. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sometimes the relationship itself is the reason why it&rsquo;s not being valued. This is especially true when the couple has children.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When you, your partner, or both parties spend too much time at work, things start to change. It is so gradual and the goals are so noble that people do not notice it until it&rsquo;s too late.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remember there is no such thing as &ldquo;enough&rdquo; quality time, especially with little children. <\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The more time you spend doing something else, the more their resentment builds up and the less they trust you. That&rsquo;s why a lot of kids turn against their own parents by the time they are in their teens, but that&rsquo;s another topic altogether.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Young children are the most susceptible to such treatment, your partner will also feel the strain of being ignored, even if you&rsquo;re doing it for their sake. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People who do this lie to themselves and say that they are doing it for the family while spending less time investing in the actual relationship. They would start to spend more time &rdquo; fulfilling their role&rdquo; in the marriage and spend less time being married. If it goes on long enough, they start to believe in their own lives and things will start going downhill from there.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The-little-things\"><\/span>The little things<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone has annoying quirks. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When we live with someone, we get to see all of them. &nbsp;From people who don&rsquo;t lift up the toilet seat, steal food, messy bitches, smelly feet, and talk too much while watching TV, they will start to annoy us and on bad days little things escalate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You&rsquo;ll realize you&rsquo;re marriage is in trouble when one or both parties lose their temper on little things. There could be other factors involved such as stress at work, PMS, hunger, hot weather, etc that might exacerbate the situation, but if it happens on a daily basis then it&rsquo;s a clear sign of toxicity and your relationship is in trouble. <\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are times when quirks get on our nerves, but if you truly love a person, you learn to love their imperfections or learn to ignore it.<\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Perfection-is-the-enemy-of-progress\"><\/span>Perfection is the enemy of progress<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are a few people credited with this quote, it is one of the basic tenets of management. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It can also apply to relationships.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Living with an obsessive-compulsive unforgiving perfectionist and keeping up with them is just as suffocating as living with a person&rsquo;s quirks. <\/span><\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The main difference with this and a dominator is, they believe they are doing it for our own good. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is a bigger problem, since tolerating quirks is about accepting the faults of our loved ones, but OC&rsquo;s believe that they are doing everything in the best interest of the relationship.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Warning-signs-are-just-flags-that-shows-you%E2%80%99re-in-a-rocky-relationship\"><\/span>Warning signs are just flags that shows you&rsquo;re in a rocky relationship<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">All relationship have their ups and downs, but having a lot of warning flags is a sign of toxicity. Nobody wants to be in a stifling toxic relationship. Things can change if both partners are willing to work for the better, you can also get outside help from friends, family, or a marriage counselor.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"There-are-also-times-when-it%E2%80%99s-necessary-to-end-the-relationship\"><\/span>There are also times when it&rsquo;s necessary to end the relationship<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A poker fold is sometimes the right decision. Willingness to change is the key indicator to know if there is hope. It is always a case of action speaks louder than words. Do not expect someone to change overnight, but there should be a gradual improvement from people if they are willing to change.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It is your life, you be the judge. You, your partner, and your children will receive the rewards and consequences. Ultimately, the choice is in your hands.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false,"raw":""},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To love and to hold, until death does us part. It usually starts with a vow. A couple declares their love to the world and lives happily ever after. Unfortunately, this is not the case for almost half of those lovers. Divorce rates are decreasing, but it&rsquo;s not because of better relationships, but people are just not getting married. Modern couples are looking for signs of toxicity, trouble, and other factors that could adversely affect a long term commitment. How about those who are already married? There are many factors why people stay together or fall apart. But these warning <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":33245,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2501],"tags":[2598],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33243"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33243"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33248,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33243\/revisions\/33248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marriage.com\/advice\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}