If you avoid spending time with family because of how mentally taxing it is to be around your siblings, then you know the stress that comes with having toxic siblings. Healthy family relationships are those that are loving, caring and understanding. Sadly, just because you are related, doesn’t mean that you automatically get the picture-perfect sibling relationship.
Below are 4 red flags that you have a toxic sibling:
They know it all and are never wrong
To put it bluntly, they are always right, no matter what! They always have all the answers and are patronizing toward you if you try to call them out on it.
They are controlling
The rules do not apply to them. They will do what they want when they want and how they want. If a family get-together doesn’t suit their plan or they feel the slightest inconvenienced, then they are just not coming. Did you want Thanksgiving at your house this year? That isn’t happening, because they are the ones who pick where the family spends the holidays.
They are users
They are always guilting you into helping them, even though the favor will never be repaid. You find yourself bailing them out of sticky situations, babysitting their kids, or listening to them vent about their day, but when you need help, they are conveniently busy.
They dismiss your feelings
If you are feeling down, annoyed, depressed, or just not 100% like yourself, they invalidate your feelings. Instead of just being a shoulder to cry on they tell you to stop being dramatic and make you feel foolish.
How to deal with having toxic siblings isn’t black and white. Maybe your sibling doesn’t realize how their actions are truly hurting you. Their actions could be a cry for help and they have been needing you to point it out for a while. Having a heart-to-heart conversation with your sibling isn’t going to be a walk in the park, confrontation is never fun, but sometimes it can help relieve some of the tension.
At the end of the day, you aren’t forced to surround yourself with conflict and negativity, in the name of “family.”Walking away and setting boundaries with your siblings is sometimes the only way to take back control, and that is okay.
