TOXIC FRIENDS

 “Be wary if someone wants to be your friend way too quickly — it can be attractive to have people wanting to be around you, but don’t just embrace somebody as being your long lost best friend. Get to know them, observe their behaviour over time,” warns Dr Bambling.
“If you tend to be too trusting it can be like a moth to a light. They’ll start pushing all the buttons. So, get to know the other person first.
“Ask yourself simple ideas: Are they going to be nice to you? Can I ask them questions? Can I talk to them without being afraid of how they’ll react? Are they hiding information? Is there a history of poor friendships and unstable relationships?
“People in this situation are highly manipulative. They’ll ask you do more and more for them, want endless amounts of time, want you to go out of your way and drop everything.
“When people who are like that get frustrated, they protest and push harder. If that doesn’t work they might drop you and move on, or they might become very unreasonable, talk negatively, in some cases become violent.
“They are not able to tolerate not getting their own way. It’s immature — the attitude is, people are there to gratify my needs.”