The curse of the 'toxic friend': How eight in ten of us put up with people who cause more harm than good

Our friends are supposed to be our closest confidantes and support network.But for many of us, they can be more Sixty-five percent of those polled complained of having a self-obsessed friend, and 59 per-cent accused their closest acquaintances of being emotional 'vampires' - draining all their energy reserves. TOP FIVE TOXIC FRIEND PERSONALITY TYPES

1. Self-absorbed Instead, 37 per cent blocked those they didn't like on Facebook, while 53 'downgraded' friends from people they saw regularly to just occasionally.
   
   Dr Gail Saltz, a*sociate professor of psychiatry at New York Presbyterian Hospital, added: 'The reason it's hard to dump a toxic friend is the same reason people stay in all kinds of dysfunctional relationships. There's something in it that you find compelling or familiar. 'Depending on the nature of what's going on in the relationship, you may feel guilty.Or it could be that the person has implied you need them in some way - that you would be a bad person to walk away.'
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