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Ending An Unhealthy Relationship: Reasons We Stay, How To Go

All too often, we stay in unhealthy relationships despite knowing just how bad they are for us. Why do we stay? And how can we leave?

Earlier this year, I ended a relationship I’d been in for about two years. If I’m totally honest, I knew before we even started dating that we weren’t good for each other — or rather, that he wasn’t good for me. But I let his words persuade me otherwise, and two years later, I had to pick up the pieces.

I could have saved myself a lot of heartache by ending things sooner, but no matter how many times I told myself I would, I never did. In the months since the breakup, I’ve done a lot of reflecting on these kinds of unhealthy relationships. I’ve come to a few conclusions about why we stay and how we can get out of them.

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Reasons We Stay

I’ve come to the conclusion that there are four big reasons we stay in unhealthy relationships. We may stay for just one of these reasons or for all four. Or we may stay for a combination of them. The combination and the reasons might even…