Unhealthy friendships are so normalized these days. Finding ways to disconnect with others without causing problems is extremely challenging. Friendships end all the time whether you wanted them to or not. Being able to figure out which friendships are toxic and which ones are healthy is very important in being able to grow with yourself mentally.

There are many signs to find an unhealthy friendship. There’s one-sidedness, jealousy, rudeness, and them thinking they are better than you so they take advantage of you. When you notice these things in a friendship it should automatically set off a red flag. I have gone around and talked to different people of different age levels about any tips they have to stop toxic friendships and here’s what they had to say.

Elizabeth Konold is a sophomore at Avon High School and here’s what she had to say: “Being able to point out toxic friends and actually having the guts to do something about it is a really good feeling. You can either just randomly cut off all contact with them or you can simply let them know that the friendship isn’t doing your mental health any good.” With this being said, the better option would be to go head first and just let them know that the friendship isn’t going to work anymore, but then again, it does depend on who the person is.

Another person I talked to was Senior Joshua Boykin and here’s what he had to say: “I stopped talking to them. I let them know what they did wrong and stopped associating with them. It was a really hard thing to do but it really needed to be done. It’s like your first deep breath after drowning.”

After talking to these people, I have come to the conclusion that the best bet would be to talk to the person about it so they are aware as to why you ended the friendship and just to let them know what they should try to change so that the next friendship isn’t as mentally draining as that one was.