Toxic personalities absorb our time and energy , and many individuals are unaware of the negative impact these people have on their lives. These types of people are a source of conflict, create discomfort and stress, among many other problems.

A recent study by Friedrich Schiller University, which was conducted in Germany, shows how toxic people influence the well-being of the individuals around them.

How Toxic People Affect Our Brains

In this research it was found that exposure to stimuli that cause strong negative emotions (such as these individuals) causes subjects to have a massive stress response, and this stress is harmful to our thinking organ.

S ome days of exposure to the stressful stimulus compromises the effectiveness of neurons in the hippocampus , an important area of the brain responsible for reasoning and memory. A few weeks of exposure causes reversible damage to brain cells, and months of stress can destroy them permanently. As you can see, toxic people not only make you feel sad or anxious, but can leave behind long-term negative consequences.

Can people change?

Now, you have to be careful about labeling people. Although it is true that there are individuals with a toxic personality, on many occasions (not all), it is possible to talk and solve problems. Everyone can change, but they also need to do their part .

However, toxic people do exist and can cause relationship problems that will eventually affect you. Whether in your circle of friends or at work, it is necessary to detect this source of stress because it can affect your well-being and quality of life.

  • We recommend reading: “23 Signs of a Toxic Relationship”

Toxic personalities: how to detect them?

Have you ever had a co-worker criticize you behind your back simply for being jealous? Or a so-called friend lie to you to get ahead in some situation without caring how it affected you?

In everyday life situations we may encounter people who are going to hurt us, and no matter how much we put in, they are only going to want to get away with it no matter what. In these cases it is better to get away and surround yourself with people who bring something positive to you, who add and do not subtract .

There are different signs of a toxic personality. They are as follows:

  • Makes you lose your temper
  • Their presence has a strong negative impact on your self-esteem
  • He blames you when he is the culprit
  • You feel fear and discomfort when you have to be with him
  • You cannot be relaxed and calm in their presence
  • You are defensive when it comes to

Types of Toxic Personalities

Of course, before blaming others it is necessary to look at oneself, because many times we can focus on others to excuse our own behavior. Sometimes it is the relationship itself (in which we both participate) that leads a person to behave in a negative way towards us.

Individuals with toxic personalities, however, often behave the same way with other people and in other situations. But… what types of toxic personalities can we find? Below you can find a list of toxic personalities.

1. Selfish

One toxic personality trait is selfishness. Selfish people are those who don’t want to share anything with us, but when something interests them, they are nice.

They are manipulators and may appear to be our friends, but their only goal is to get something in return. They are not a real friendship and we will not be able to deepen our feelings with them or give them our trust. Selfish people, sooner or later, will bring out their true personality.

On the other hand, those who stand out for their selfishness are also characterized by their rejection of the idea of collaborative and cooperative networks, since if this attitude begins to become popular, their ability to refuse to share may result in isolation. The idea is, therefore, to make individualism prevail in almost all cases, except in those where that person needs something from others.

2. Envious

Envious people always want what someone else has and they cannot have , and therefore they will never be happy that things are going well for others. This situation is not healthy either for the person who is a victim or for the envious person, and behind the envy there is always low self-esteem, frustration and pain.

Envy occurs because these people do not focus their happiness within. Spending too much time around envious people is dangerous because they will feel a great resentment towards you and the people around them.

3. Manipulator

Manipulators steal time and energy from people under the façade that “nothing is wrong” . They have the ability to convince you even on those issues that are not convenient for you and to lead you on the path they want, without any qualms and without caring about the negative consequences a situation may have for you.

Manipulators detect the weaknesses of others, do not stop until they get what they want, are insatiable and always want to be in control.

  • You can deepen these aspects in our article: “Manipulative people have these 5 traits in common”

4. Abuser

Without a doubt, one of the worst personalities we can encounter is that of the abuser, but unfortunately, abuse is a phenomenon that can occur not only in relationships, but also at school (known as bullying) or at work (known as mobbing). It is better to stay away from these people because they usually hide a great deal of hatred inside .

  • Abuse doesn’t have to be physical, it can also be psychological. If you want to know what an abuser looks like: “Psychological abuser profile: 21 traits in common”

5. Intolerant

Intolerant people are people who are full of prejudices and, therefore, are influenced by stereotypes and by the ideas of something or someone accepted as a pattern of qualities or behaviour.

Instead of appreciating and learning from people who are different from them, people who judge others look down on other individuals. Since they are not objective people, it is better to stay away from them.

6. Authoritarian

The authoritarian personality is the one that prevails in dictators , but these traits can also be presented by people who are not in the government (even though they act as if they have a very high quota of power).

Such individuals engage in undemocratic behaviour and seek to exercise control over the people around them, based on the idea that they are best able to decide what is good and what is bad. Consciously or unconsciously, they do not listen to others and to those around them, because they think that the only valid criterion is their own and they want everyone to obey them.

7. Sociopath

Sociopaths are those people who do not show empathy for others or remorse for their actions , and although they have a normal temperament, they have not acquired a series of social skills due to the negligent and incompetent upbringing by their family, which on many occasions involves situations of violence.

They may seem like charming people when they meet them, but in the long run they show negative behaviors that affect the people around them, among other things, because they do not see others as their equals and therefore do not empathize.

  • You can read more about this type of personality in our article: “Differences between psychopathy and sociopathy”

8. Neurotics

Neuroticism is what is known as emotional instability. We can all have a certain degree of neuroticism, but those who have a high degree of it and do nothing to regulate it and try to make their interpersonal relationships work, usually pose a big problem for the members of their social circles. This is because they do not tolerate well the small frustrations and annoyances that interaction with others brings naturally and irremediably.

Emotional instability has its origin in low self-esteem and irrational beliefs that are part of the mental schemes of the person, which lead them to be perfectionists and to focus their happiness on external factors. These are people who usually live on an emotional rollercoaster and may have childish behaviour .