End Toxic Relationships Within Your Family

Your relationship with your parents and grown siblings might be so bad that your only option is to sever all ties, at least until everyone concerned expresses a willingness to talk about the relationship dynamics. Regardless of whether you have come to terms with your family relationships or not, the negativity might have bad effects on your health. Once you have decided that you will not be able to repair your relationships with your family, it is time to break those ties.

Step 1

Evaluate your relationships with your grown siblings and parents. While you have developed your identity from your family members, your relationship with them may begin identifying who you are as you try to deal with the arguments, bad feelings and stress. You and your siblings have childhood memories, but what you remember might not be what they remember.

Step 2

Look back on events from your childhood that might have affected the quality of your relationships with your parents and siblings. Parent-child relationships are affected by events in the family, such as the death of a child. When a parent gives more love or attention to one child, that child’s siblings recognize this and their relationships with their parents and siblings suffer.

Step 3

Make up your mind that you do not need the anger and negativity your family members bring to your life. Once you have evaluated the true state of your relationship and its effects on you emotionally and physically, you might decide that your health is more important. Even if you and your family members do not fight, the state of your relationships might have caused stress or emotional upset in past years. Put that stress and emotional upset into your past, at least until your family is willing to discuss their relationships with you.

Step 4

Meet with your parents and siblings if it is safe for you to do so. Respectfully tell them you are stopping all contact with them. If you are tempted to tell them that the toxic relationships you have with them are affecting your health, understand that this will not matter to them. Keep your message simple and direct as you tell them why you are cutting off contact.

Step 5