Signs of a Poor Emotional Support System

Ways to Tell You Have a Bad Frienship

Identifying a bad friendship or poor emotional support system is essential, especially when trying to achieve a big or complex dream. 

A flawed dynamic support system may discourage your dreams or even derail you by planting seeds of doubt or encouraging beliefs the goals are unachievable.

Surrounding yourself with a poor emotional support system can make achieving dreams in life significantly more difficult, if not impossible.

Therefore, it is imperative to surround yourself with those who will support your dreams and goals. [Read also: Ways to Tell if You Have a Strong Emotional Support System].

Depending on your emotional support group will determine how far you go in life and how long it will take you to get there. 

A positive support group will help you along your journey by encouraging, giving ideas, and pushing you toward success. 

In contrast, a negative support group will only hold you back by instilling negative thoughts, discouraging ideas, or trying to beat you to the punch in an unhealthy competitive manner.

If you think you are may have a bad friendship, continue reading. Below is a complete list of Ways to Tell You Have a Poor Emotional Support System.

Signs of a Bad Friendship or a poor emotional support system.

1. Small Minded

A bad friendship or poor emotional support system will shoot down any ideas you may have. It doesn’t matter if it is a goal or dream that will significantly improve your life.

They may present a list of reasons why it cannot work. 

They may even encourage you to take another path they believe is more manageable.

They can also discourage your plans by refusing to discuss, changing the conversation, or interrupting you anytime you talk about your ideas, goals, or dreams.

Your poor emotional support group may indicate that only a specific type of person can achieve greatness.

2. Doesn't Want to Talk About Dreams, Idea's or Goals

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people"
~ Eleanor Roosevelt

If you’re struggling to discuss your pursuits, aspirations, or accomplishments with those around you, it’s possible that you’re spending time with the wrong crowd.

You may have a poor emotional support system if you find your dreams constantly being shot down during discussions. 

It’s possible that the people you’re surrounding yourself with lack ambition or aren’t interested in discussing goals or ideas. 

Negative attitudes toward your endeavors can leave you feeling drained, exhausted, and unmotivated to pursue your aspirations.

On the other hand, being around positive and supportive individuals who believe in your dreams can be incredibly beneficial. 

These individuals can help you brainstorm, gain guidance, and feel energized to tackle your goals. 

Surrounding yourself with people who support your ideas and aspirations can make all the difference in achieving success. 

It’s okay to have big dreams, and it’s essential to have people around you who believe in and support them too.

3. Doesn't Encourage You

Someone who offers a bad friendship is one that doesn't encourage you to go after your dreams. Furthermore, a sign of a bad friendship is someone who engages in gossip. People who gossip often cause harm and is best to confront them. Therefore, it is important to keep confrontation brief in order to maintain a positive outlook and still be able to spread positive words to those within your inner circle.

One sign of a bad friendship is when those around you don’t encourage you. 

It can be disheartening when you’re trying to pursue your dreams and the people around you don’t seem supportive or to care. 

It’s especially tough when you bring up your ideas, and they’re dismissed or ignored, leaving you feeling discouraged and unsure of yourself.

Unfortunately, this unsupportive environment can make staying motivated and pushing toward your goals challenging.

If you feel like the people in your life aren’t giving you the encouragement you need, it might be time to seek a different support system to help you achieve your dreams.

 You deserve to have people who believe in you and want to see you succeed!

4. Put You and Other's Down

Understanding the warning signs of a bad friendship is crucial. 

When you encounter people who put you down, it’s important to recognize that this behavior is often rooted in their insecurities. 

Insulting others may be a behavior used as a coping mechanism to feel more secure about themselves.

However, it’s essential to know that being subjected to insults and negative criticism can harm our mental and emotional well-being. 

It can affect our self-esteem and even hinder us from achieving our goals or pursuing our dreams.

That’s why it’s crucial to surround ourselves with positive and supportive individuals who encourage and motivate us. 

When we have a solid emotional support system, we are better equipped to overcome challenges and obstacles in life.

So, it’s vital to cultivate meaningful relationships with people who uplift us and inspire us to be our best selves. 

The people we surround ourselves with can significantly impact our lives. 

Therefore, choose those to be a part of your life wisely.

5. Is Competitive

Be careful of someone who is competitive, this is a sign of a poor emotional support system. If your friendship is becoming competitive then it may indicate it is time to let your friend go.

Another sign of a bad friendship is extreme competitiveness. 

Competition can be an excellent motivator for many people. 

Being competitive can push you to work harder, be more creative, and achieve things you never thought possible.

However, when competition becomes the sole basis for a relationship, it can quickly become unhealthy and damaging. 

Constantly trying to one-up a friend or loved one can lead to feelings of jealousy, low self-esteem, and inadequacy. 

Negative emotions steamed from having a competitive companion can hold you back and prevent you from reaching your full potential.

Instead of focusing on competition, it’s important to cultivate healthy relationships based on mutual respect, support, and encouragement. 

Cultivating a healthy relationship will help you build strong connections with others and achieve your goals in a positive and uplifting way. 

Your greatest competition should always be yourself.  Always striving to be the best version of yourself every day.

6. Doesn't Acknowledge Your Hard Work

It can be frustrating when you share your accomplishments with others and receive no recognition or support.

Whether it’s getting a promotion or finishing grad school, it’s important to surround yourself with people who genuinely care about your success.

Toxic individuals who ignore your major milestones in life can bring you down and hinder your progress. 

For this reason, we added individuals who don’t acknowledge your hard work as a sign of a poor emotional support system.

Celebrating significant achievements such as starting a business or receiving a scholarship can give you the motivation and encouragement you need to reach your next milestone. 

A positive and uplifting support system is key to achieving your goals and living a fulfilling life.

7. Complains

Be careful of someone who complains, this is a sign of a poor emotional support group. Another sign to look for is gossiping. People who gossip is detrimental to those around them. Furthermore, someone who displays traits of an elegant woman avoids gossip.

Being around someone who is constantly complaining is exhausting. 

The self-defeating attitude and constant negativity will drain you and may leave you in a foul mood.

Consider how you feel when leaving someone’s presence. 

Your energy and spirit will indicate how the person impacts your overall mental well-being. 

Being around someone toxic will disrupt your mental well-being. 

Therefore, making them a bad friendship to have, also known as a poor emotional support system.

Surrounding yourself with people who uplift and inspire you rather than drain your energy is important. 

Your mental well-being should always be a top priority. 

It is, for this reason, we added complaining to the list of Signs of a Poor Emotional Support System, Ways to Tell You have a Bad Friendship. 

8. Gives Bad Advise

Having a poor emotional support system that gives bad advice can make life more difficult, while good advice can lead to a more victorious life. 

It’s important to consider the background and experience of the person you seek advice from. 

For example, seeking financial advice from someone with financial knowledge is wise, while seeking life advice from someone whose life you admire is also a good idea. 

When choosing who to obtain advice from, choose wisely. 

Find someone whose life you admire and ask if you can buy them a cup of coffee to pick their brain and learn how to achieve their lifestyle. 

The worst they can say is no, but it is a great learning opportunity if they say yes.

9. Creates Drama

Creating drama is another sign of a bad friendship and a poor emotional support group. Furthermore, a poor support system can hold you back from achieving your dreams.

Who has time for drama? There are dreams to achieve and goals to slay.

Drama is kryptonite to anyone striving to be successful. Drama is another sign of having a bad friendship. 

It wastes time and brings negativity, insecurity, and doubt into the mind space.

Drama often manifests itself through gossiping, excessive emotional reactions, or constant negativity in one’s life. [Read also: What to  do if you find out someone is gossiping about you]

Individuals who are fixated on drama tend to dwell solely on negative occurrences and rarely discuss positive experiences.

It’s best to avoid drama and focus on what matters. 

Furthermore, drama is a waste of time and time is our most valuable asset that we should use wisely.

Therefore, it’s important to avoid drama and channel our energy toward achieving our goals.

10. Doesn't Lift You Up

It’s essential to have goals and stick to them. 

It’s also important to surround yourself with friends and family who support you and encourage you to be the best version of yourself.

For example, if you strive to go to bed before 8 am and avoid alcohol to focus on achieving your goals. 

Yet, friends or family continuously invite you out for drinks and distract you from your objectives.

Suppose you constantly reiterate that you are trying to establish healthy habits to obtain a better future, yet, your view is disregarded. 

In that case, these individuals may not have your best interests at heart and may be focused only on their own gain.

Anyone who does not lift you up or respect your boundaries is toxic and not worth your time. 

A strong support system is key to achieving your dreams and becoming the best version of yourself.

Therefore, another sign of a bad friendship is one that doesn’t lift you up. 

When is it Time to Create Boundaries?

It is time to create boundaries if you have a poor support system. 

Boundaries are a healthy way to maintain a relationship at a distance while focusing on your mental wellness. 

It is essential to ensure those around you respect your boundaries. [Read also: Signs You are Surrounded by Good People]. 

Why is it important to find a healthy Strong Support System?

A strong and healthy support system is essential as it helps achieve one’s goals. 

This is because a healthy support system will lift you and give you guidance allowing it easier to achieve your goals through positive motivation.

You can't achieve anything entirely by yourself.
There's a support system that is a basic requirement of human existence. To be happy and successful on earth, you just have to have people that you rely on."
~ Michael Schur

After finding a solid emotional support system that is rooting for you, ensure you do everything you can to maintain and keep the relationship going. 

Having a great support system is even better when it goes both ways. 

Thus, providing positive support for one another, making it a healthy relationship. [Read also: Signs You are a Good Friend]

Full list of signs of a bad friendship or a poor emotional support system. If encountering many of these signs, then it may be time to distance yourself and creating boundaries for your overall mental wellbeing.

In conclusion, identifying a bad friendship is crucial when striving to achieve big or complex dreams. A negative support system can discourage or even derail you by planting seeds of doubt or encouraging beliefs that your goals are unachievable.

Therefore, it is vital to surround yourself with individuals who will support your dreams and goals. 

A positive support group will help you along your journey by encouraging you, giving ideas, and pushing you toward success.

In contrast, a negative support group will only hold you back by instilling negative thoughts, discouraging ideas, or trying to beat you to the punch in an unhealthy competitive manner.

Thus, making it essential to identify the signs of a bad friendship and create boundaries to maintain a healthy relationship.

It’s important to hold onto a strong and healthy support system once you’ve found it. Maintaining those relationships is key, as having a great support system can be incredibly beneficial for both parties involved. When each person can provide positive support for the other, it creates a healthy and mutually beneficial dynamic.

Full List of Signs of a Poor Support System

  1. Small Minded
  2. Doesn’t Want to Talk About Dreams, Idea’s or Goals 
  3. Doesn’t Encourage You
  4. Puts You and Other’s Down
  5. Is Competitive 
  6. Doesn’t Acknowledge Your Hard Work 
  7. Complains 
  8. Gives Bad Advise
  9. Creates Drama
  10. Doesn’t Lift You Up
Sara Elizabeth

About Author, Sara Elizabeth
Writer, Amora V Lifestyle
Co-Owner of Elizabeth Besich Boutique

Sara is a writer for Amora V Lifestyle and is Co-Owner of Elizabeth Besich. Sara previously worked as a Marketing Manager and has her Master’s from Lindenwood University.

Sara studies everything of interest, from psychology, recipes, finances, mental health, and travel, thriving to find happiness and to live a good life.

When not learning, Sara loves all things outdoors, food, and hanging around great company. Furthermore, Sara loves spending time with family, who she is blessed to have in her life.

Note from the author: Through my articles, I hope to bring you joy and peace and that you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this blog. The authors of this blog are not liable for any errors or omissions in the information provided, nor for any losses, injuries, or damages arising from the use of the information provided. I am not a professional relationship counselor, and my advice should not be considered as a substitute for professional help. It is important to communicate openly and honestly with your partner, friend or co-worker and seek guidance from a qualified professional if needed. Remember, every relationship is unique and requires individual attention and care.Any reviews or comments written are the subjective opinion of an Amora V Lifestyle member and not Amora V Lifestyle. Amora V Lifestyle performs occasional checks on commentary left by users. It’s worth mentioning that we may also use comments in our articles. By posting a comment, you are giving us permission to use it in our content. Please check out Privacy Policy and Terms of Use for full disclosure. 

Leave a reply