If you do travel, you’re going to encounter people in varying stages of life who may or may not be the best to engage with. When considering those who have a “toxic” quality, it’s helpful to take in the larger picture. The question is this: does toxicity exist apart from most people, or is there some aspect of the toxic in all of us?

Strategies To Handle People Who Have Become “Toxic”

Toxicity Begets Toxicity

I would like to first say, that if you feel like you’re depressed or even just have the weight of a lot on your mind, it’s important that you’re not afraid to reach out to a family therapist. There is no shame in talking to someone and I think it’s a healthy choice no matter what’s going on in your life. You can look for a therapist near me in Google or check with your insurance for providers.

First, let’s get an idea of what “toxic” is. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, that which is toxic is “poisonous”. Poison will give your body a reaction if you ingest it, and have no prior experience. That reaction could kill you. However, some poisons that are very strong have little effect on certain individuals owing to aspects of their life which have helped them to build up an immunity.

This may not be the best example, but it’s certainly a dramatic one: alcoholism enables the body to resist cyanide. Russian mystical “medicine man” of Czar Nicholas II Rasputin was deliberately poisoned, and owing to his alcoholism, he took so little notice the conspirators panicked and shot him. That didn’t work either so they threw him in a frozen river.

Now this is an example of toxicity reacting with toxicity, perhaps, but here’s the point: you can insure yourself to certain types of toxic personalities in people by taking certain precautions. It’s certainly better to grow a “thicker skin” than it is to become an alcoholic—you want to fortify yourself in a way which matches your situation. And while drinking a bit can help you rebuff the real poison of cyanide, taking personal responsibility and having proper empathy metered by caution can help you handle many toxic personalities.

Responsibility Deferral is Toxic

As a traveler, you’ve got to understand a few things about humanity in general. Those who are toxic don’t become that way from nothing. All people are imperfect, and all people go through things in life which have the propensity to induce toxicity.

Attitude, willpower, and simple faith can help you avoid becoming toxic to those around you, but even the best stumble sometimes. It’s notable that often, toxicity results from circumstance. The individual becomes poisoned by influential features surrounding them they can’t control. It’s also notable that sometimes perfect circumstances produce people “poisoned” into toxicity by their own choices.

A great example of this might be a spoiled aristocrat, raised with a silver spoon, and adopting an arrogant prideful attitude which exalts itself above people who weren’t born in such pristine circumstances. But the same type of toxicity exists in the individual who styles themselves the victim of circumstance, rather than taking responsibility for their own actions. Both poisonous attitudes “pass the buck”.

Perhaps this is a core component of that which is toxic: people refusing to take responsibility for their own actions, and thus mentally rationalizing away terrible behavior which negatively impacts others. As you travel, you’ve got to take these things into account, and take steps to avoid them.