7 Strategies to Deal with Toxic People

Life is stressful enough for most of us. Allowing a toxic individual to ravage your immediate environment can cause havoc in your mental well-being, which can lead to physical challenges.

A bad state of mind not only affects your physical well-being but makes it difficult for you to respond calmly under pressure. Ninety percent of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions, so your ability to perform effectively can be affected if you do not adopt strategies that will allow you to deal with toxic people.

It's painful to feel like you're surrounded by that negative energy and what's worse is that you always feel at-risk for getting sucked into it. The truth is that people are not actually toxic. What is toxic is your reaction to them.

So the way to not feel like this has nothing to do with the other person, it's all about retaining a sense of self. Here are some points to help you do that.

1.  Move on without them.

If you know someone who insists on destructively dictating the emotional atmosphere, then be clear: they are toxic.  If you are suffering because of their attitude, and your compassion, patience, advice, and general attentiveness doesn't seem to help them, and they don't seem to care one bit, then ask yourself, "Do I need this person in my life?"

When you delete toxic people from your environment it becomes a lot easier to breathe.  If the circumstances warrant it, leave these people behind and move on when you must.

A healthy relationship is reciprocal; it should be give and take, but not in the sense that you're always giving and they're always taking.  If you must keep a truly toxic person in your life for whatever reason, then consider the remaining points.

2.  Stop pretending their toxic behaviour is OK.

If you're not careful, toxic people can use their moody behaviour to get preferential treatment, because it just seems easier to quiet them down than to listen to their grouchy rhetoric.  Don't be fooled.  Short-term ease equals long-term pain for you in a situation like this.  Toxic people don't change if they are being rewarded for not changing. 

3.  Speak up!

Stand up for yourself.  Some people will do anything for their own personal gain at the expense of others – cut in line, take money and property, bully and belittle, pass guilt, etc.  Do not accept this behaviour.  Most of these people know they're doing the wrong thing and will back down surprisingly quickly when confronted.  In most social settings people tend to keep quiet until one person speaks up, so SPEAK UP.

Some toxic people may use anger as a way of influencing you, or they may not respond to you when you're trying to communicate, or interrupt you and suddenly start speaking negatively about something dear to you.  If ever you dare to speak up and respond adversely to their moody behaviour, they may be surprised, or even outraged, that you've trespassed onto their behavioural territory.  But you must speak up anyway.

4.  Put your foot down.

Your dignity may be attacked, ravaged and disgracefully mocked, but it can never be taken away unless you willingly surrender it.  It's all about finding the strength to defend your boundaries.

Demonstrate that you won't be insulted or belittled.  Much more effective has been ending conversations with sickening sweetness or just plain abruptness. Truly toxic people will pollute everyone around them, including you if you allow them.  If you've tried reasoning with them and they aren't budging, don't hesitate to vacate their space and ignore them until they do.

5.  Don't take their toxic behaviour personally.

Toxic people will likely try to imply that somehow you've done something wrong.  And because the "feeling guilty" button is quite large on many of us, even the implication that we might have done something wrong can hurt our confidence and unsettle our resolve.  Don't let this happen to you.

Remember, there is a huge amount of freedom that comes to you when you take nothing personally.  Most toxic people behave negatively not just to you, but to everyone they interact with.  Even when the situation seems personal – even if you feel directly insulted – it usually has nothing to do with you.  What they say and do, and the opinions they have, are based entirely on their own self-reflection. 

6.  Practice practical compassion.

Sometimes it makes sense to be sympathetic with toxic people whom you know are going through a difficult time, or those who are suffering from an illness. There's no question about it, some toxic people are genuinely distressed, depressed, or even mentally and physically ill, but you still need to separate their legitimate issues from how they behave toward you.  If you let people get away with anything because they are distressed, facing a medical condition, or depressed, even, then you are making it too tempting for them to start unconsciously using their unfortunate circumstance as a means to an end.

7.  Take time for yourself.

If you are forced to live or work with a toxic person, then make sure you get enough alone time to relax, rest, and recuperate.  Having to play the role of a "focused, rational adult" in the face of toxic moodiness can be exhausting, and if you're not careful, the toxicity can infect you.  Again, understand that even people with legitimate problems and clinical illnesses can still comprehend that you have needs as well, which means you can politely excuse yourself when you need to.

You deserve this time away.  You deserve to think peacefully, free from external pressure and toxic behaviour.  No problems to solve, boundaries to uphold, or personalities to please.  Sometimes you need to make time for yourself, away from the busy world you live in that doesn't make time for you.