When you’re in a toxic relationship, sometimes it reaches a pointer where you know deep inside that this relationship is bad for you. You feel hurt and controlled, and those feelings stick with you. You realize that the best thing to do is to leave this toxic situation for good.

Even though you know it’s best to leave, you can’t fully commit to it. Part of your mind feels scared of being truly free. Suddenly, you have lots of doubts and reasons to stay, like “It’s not that bad,” “I have no other options,” or “I’ll be alone forever if I leave.” These thoughts stop you from making a real escape plan that will help you leave that situation for good.

You can almost feel those hidden fears pulling you back, like an emotional black hole drawing you into the toxic relationship you want to leave. So, what is really going on here?

The answer lies in what I call your mind’s “unconscious payoff” — the hidden benefits your psyche has secretly attached to the dysfunction, keeping you stuck in a familiar but harmful pattern. As humans, we resist change, even when it seems obviously better. Our minds often prefer the familiar misery over the unknown, fearing the uncertainty of change more than the known pain.

To our primal psychology, the toxic relationship provides certain comforts, patterns, and self-preservation traps that our survival instincts have become dependent on. We constantly second-guess our intuition and reality. We fear the possibility of failing on our own. We are driven by codependency, seeking occasional scraps of love, attention, or validation from a partner who constantly withholds them.

It’s similar to a wild animal accustomed to an abusive circus environment. Even if you open the cage door, part of their captive mindset compels them to stay confined, possibly sabotaging their own chance at freedom. The circus provides food and safety from other wild animals or the harsh wilderness. The mental shackles of their prison are familiar, known, and their traumatized nature has found ways to cope and minimize the damage, however dire the situation.

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But in order to genuinely leave that hurtful environment, you have to be willing to do something incredibly courageous — turn your back on those unconscious payoffs and perceived safety net. You have to accept that the path to thriving and freedom will feel very uncomfortable and scary at times. You have to embrace that apparent emptiness deep inside as a necessary part of the journey to reclaim yourself from the dysfunctional relationship.

As uncomfortable as cutting those ties may feel, it’s far better than remaining indefinitely suspended in a toxic environment that’s been quietly tearing pieces of your soul and spirit. While the journey toward coming back to yourself can feel daunting, the alternative is far more excruciating. Be kind to yourself and keep reminding yourself of the positive benefits you will gain once you leave the relationship. Your mind may not allow you to see that, but keep doing it as the path to freedom becomes clearer and clearer.

Note from the Author

If you’re ready and you’d like my help with healing, finding peace in life and breaking free from these toxic patterns, then you can book a FREE BREAKTHROUGH CALL with me HERE. Happy healing 💙💙. Feel free to share and comment! Use this information with caution, it comes from my own thoughts & bias, experiences and research😊.