"I Finally Had To Face The Fact That I’d Raised A True Narcissist": People Are Candidly Revealing Why They Had To Completely Cut Contact With A Loved One

Note: This post contains mentions of abuse, drugs, and alcohol addiction.

Cutting someone out of your life can be the beginning of a difficult journey, especially if it's someone like a friend, family member, or even a partner that you thought would be in your life forever. But sometimes, your breaking point with them can actually be a blessing in disguise.

NBCUniversal Syndication Studios / Via media.giphy.com

I recently asked the BuzzFeed Community, "When was the moment that someone made you realize you didn't want them in your life anymore?"

Here are some of the responses:

1."This was a person that I considered my best and oldest friend. I felt like most of our friendship had been very one-sided, where it was okay for her to do certain things, but there would be stipulations if I were to do the exact same thing. For example, it's okay for her to follow her now-husband across the country because he will always be the breadwinner, but if I were to suggest such a move for my partner, she would comment that I'm 'giving up' and 'not living my life.' For her, it is a relationship compromise, but then the same wouldn't be applied to me. The last straw was when I went through a breakup and she wasn't that supportive. She told me that I've been spending the past year moping instead of living my life, which was not true. I felt that the relationship needed to end. Just because you've known someone for so long does not mean that you need to remain friends if that person no longer serves a purpose in your life."

—Anonymous, 32, Louisiana

2."I was physically and emotionally abused by my biological father. I was still a minor when he got me involved with manufacturing and trafficking huge quantities of meth. I cooked meth for about three years, and around the age of 20, we would have small confrontations about stuff. Nothing ever really escalated until he started to try and blame other people for our relationship. We were in the car when an argument escalated, and I told him that I was done and moving away before I got out of the car. I started to walk away when he jumped out and ran around the car, looking ready to fight."

"I squared up and told him, 'Do what the fuck you think you need to.' He stopped, got back in the car, and left. That was the last time I spoke to him. It’s been 18 years, and I don’t regret anything.

Coincidentally, I also cut off my brother, who I had always looked up to and was really close with my entire life, about 13 years after my father. He was mad at me and told me, 'You should have turned yourself in and went to prison for everything you did back then, you fucking coward.' I haven’t spoken to him since. The punishment back then was 50 years for manufacturing methamphetamine, and I was a dumb-ass kid who did what his dad wanted based on 'loyalty.' To hell with people that don’t care about you."

—Anonymous, 38, Ohio

3."As my mother lay dying in a hospital bed, my two sisters and stepfather refused to tell me which hospital she was at. Once I found out, my sister had her police officer husband pretend to be an officer in that city, call me, and say that I threatened them with violence when I hadn’t even spoken to them. I called the hospital's patient advocate, and the three of them told her that if she allowed me to come, they would leave her to die alone. Finally, on the day that she passed, I received a text that said, 'She’s gone,' from one sister. I never got to say goodbye because they were stealing from her. Nothing they can do or say will ever be forgiven."

4."Funny, my family of self-professed Christians cut me off when I got involved with a woman that they didn't approve of. It has been over 20 years now, and my life has continually gotten better since they did."

—Anonymous, 63, Virginia

5."Throughout 17 years of friendship, she gradually began treating me as her therapist, criticizing me when I did anything besides catering to her, and completely checking out whenever I wanted to talk about my life. The final straw was when she invited herself to visit me for a whole week across the country while I was in the midst of one of the most stressful times in my life: applying to graduate schools. During the week she was there, she expected a full itinerary of activities, and Venmo-requested me for amounts smaller than a dollar while I didn't ask her to pay for her parts when I covered the bill. Here's the best part: My apartment building had to be evacuated for mold with less than 24 hours notice during this time, and she refused to help whatsoever. She sat on her laptop as I moved every single one of my belongings out of my third-floor apartment to a different building by myself, then complained about her Etsy side gig."

"When I (kindly) asked her to tone down the complaining about that while my life was falling apart, she yelled at me and intentionally missed her flight home the next day to try to 'talk it out.' I was done and told her so, so she began texting my mother to coordinate a way to surprise me so we could talk. Cutting her off was the best thing I've ever done for my mental health."

—Anonymous, 24, Arizona

6."I cut off my mother after she hid a secret from me that my daughter had to have emergency surgery — and blamed me when I got upset. She then sent me a letter telling me what a terrible daughter I have always been and what a terrible person I was. She used the argument that her abusive husband (my father) was the cause of my issues and not her or the continued abuse I suffered as a child and an adult at her hands. She has never been wrong about anything in her life, and everyone is wrong but her. I'm done. She's been out of my life for four years, and I have never been more at peace or have had a better relationship with my spouse and kids."

7."I cut off my sister at the beginning of the COVID lockdown. She called me and went on a rant about 'dirty Chinese people.' When I called her on it, she said that I was racist against white people. We're Asian. She's a huge Trump supporter, and my mom told me that she refused to get the vaccine because she thinks it has something to do with abortion. My sister was recently hospitalized for COVID, and my mom begged me to call her, but I refused. Her whole family has caught COVID and refuses to wear masks around my elderly mother. The next and last time I expect to see my sister is at my mom's funeral, as my dad is already passed. My brother feels the same about her."

—Sammy Kat

8."I came home one day from working an exhausting 16-hour shift in direct care to my husband of 10 years sitting on the couch. It wasn't an issue that he was relaxing — he had worked as well and always unwinded on the couch afterward. The issue was that after 10 years in a committed relationship, he had forgotten about my birthday. I was so looking forward to a surprise at home, and I had gone the entire day working without so much as a text. I filed for divorce soon after that."

—Anonymous, 30, Connecticut

9."After my father lived with me for 12 years, he developed congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and dementia. Six months prior to my father's death, my younger brother went behind my back and had him sign a new will — leaving his entire estate to him and my brother's daughter. It's something that I KNOW I could never have done to him. He is an evil snake."

—Anonymous, 62, Georgia

10."I had just left a two-and-a-half-year abusive relationship. After a month, my friend told me that she was tired of hearing about it and had expected me to move on from it."

—Anonymous, 26, CA

11."I had breast cancer while caring for my mother with brain cancer. When I asked one of my siblings to take care of her while I had major surgery, I was told to reschedule it since they 'were busy.'"

—Anonymous, 43, Florida

12."I had become rather germaphobic due to pre-existing heart and lung issues. My friends Fran and Linda knew this but decided to go full-court press with the story that a mutual friend, Mike, had called to let them know that he and another guy who I had been exposed to at a BBQ had both tested positive for COVID-19. I was angry that he hadn't bothered to alert me as well, and I spent the next two weeks frantically calling every medical facility in the area, desperate to be tested. I finally got in touch with Mike, and he told me that he never claimed to have tested positive, but these 'friends' said things to me such as: 'You'd better get right with God,' and 'Everybody's got to go sometime.'"

13.I was best friends with someone for 15+ years. We talked every single day, and I'd always been her support system, which was mostly me seeing her through one bad decision after another — while she ignored all sound advice and common sense before complaining that nothing was going her way. Then she'd toddle off to make another bad decision. Rinse and repeat. Her lifestyle finally reached its peak soap-opera-worthy drama, and it took its toll on me while I was nine months pregnant. I was at risk of super dangerous labor complications, which she was aware of. But she couldn't seem to stop messaging me constantly to remind me how bad of a friend I was being."

14."During the beginnings of COVID, I was diagnosed with colon cancer and had to wait six months to have surgery to remove the cancerous polyp. Then they discovered a tumor, again cancer, and I had to have another surgery shortly after. Thankfully, they got it all. During this whole experience, my mom never called to see how I was doing or inquire if I was even cancer-free. Several months later, she called me, and I was so excited to see her number on my phone. However, all she wanted to know was if I wanted a few books that were given to her. When I said, 'Really, mom? That's it? Books? Don't you want to know how I am? How I'm doing?' She yelled something to me that I couldn't understand, and then she hung up on me. We've always had a sort of toxic relationship, but she's my mom, and I ALWAYS accepted her apologies and moved on. But this was the straw that finally broke the camel's back for me. I haven't spoken to her since."

—Anonymous, 63 yrs old, California

15.I made a mistake my freshman year of college, I'll own it: I kissed the guy my friend was into. Even worse, she saw us. Yikes. Well, we talked it out and made up. Fast forward to second semester of our junior year of college, and I've spent every minute of every day at school with this girl. She and I were super close, and we even talked about being in each other's weddings down the road. One day, I make another mistake and spend the night at an ex's house instead of coming back to the dorm to hang with her after class. Cue the absolute screaming fit she throws about how I have never given her the attention she deserves, I leave her alone at parties, and I treat my mom like shit (apparently)?'"

"No one here is perfect, I have definitely made mistakes, but I treat my mother like the queen she is. I digress, the end of the 20-minute screaming match resulted in her letting me know that she has always hated me and she has been lying and pretending to be my friend since the first semester of freshman year. She told me that everything she had done was a lie to draw me close to her so that she could eventually ruin my life the way that 'I ruined hers when I kissed that guy.' I definitely didn't see that coming.

After crying for days about losing my best friend, I realized that she was a little unhinged all along. Perhaps, I didn't deserve to be forgiven for kissing the guy she liked, but I don't think I deserved to be manipulated for YEARS! I said Buh-Bye."

—Anonymous, 28, Illinois

16."The moment for me was when I found out in 2021 that my mother had been lying to me about having various cancers for 10 years. She first told me 10 years ago, saying she needed money for medicines, chemo, glasses, rent, food, and everything else. I gave her thousands and thousands of dollars over the years because she said that she had no money because her illnesses disabled her, she couldn't work, SSI wasn't enough, excuse after excuse. She also said that my middle brother was abusing her verbally and mentally manipulating me. I was having multiple panic attacks at work and calling out because of her. She knew all of this and would apologize and say it would never happen again, but it would all happen again a few days later. It turned out, the whole time she was actually buying and selling pills and cocaine."

17."My oldest sister and I had not been getting along since she kicked my mother out of her house. I had to drive six hours to pick up my mother and situate her in my town. Then my 22-year-old daughter died. The day after my daughter's death, my oldest sister used her death as a weapon against me, bashing me on social media as a terrible father as a means of getting back at me. I can't imagine what kind of human being would take the worst possible moment in a parent's life and weaponize it. That was the day that I had no sister anymore. Just because I share DNA with you does not mean you get to abuse me."

—Mike, 57, Texas

18."A friend of mine sold vitamins for an MLM. She never pushed them on me until her company came out with marketing materials in Spanish. I’m a Spanish speaker — who knows tons of other Spanish speakers — so she started pressuring me to join her 'downline' and get my friends to join me. I nicely and politely told her that I wasn’t interested, but she would not take no for an answer, to the point where she would make up reasons for us to meet and then pull a bait-and-switch and try to recruit me. She even pretended to field calls from other people in her downline in front of me, pretending they were telling her how fabulously they were doing because of her. I cut her off when the lengths she was willing to go to truly got bizarre. I honestly shouldn’t have waited as long as I did."

—Anonymous, 42, Ohio

19."I dumped my anti-vaxxer best friend when my brother was in the hospital with COVID, and I was working in the medical field up to my eyeballs in COVID patients, and my friend started ranting about 'It's just the flu' and 'ventilators are dangerous.' It had been a long time coming, and I was just done."

20."I came out to my grandma and made it clear that I didn’t want to be out to anyone else, so please don’t share this with anyone. She proceeded to make insinuations and jokes about it on Facebook, and when I confronted her, she said, 'This is America and I have goddamn freedom of speech. I’ll say whatever the fuck I want.' This was after years of her verbal abuse of both me and my father, as she lived with us rent-free for half the year. She frequently took my car for joy rides and generally had no respect for me, but I foolishly had allowed myself to believe things were getting better and I could trust her. I, obviously, was wrong. She hasn’t lived with us since, all her stuff has been moved into a storage unit, and I never speak to her. She’ll never be allowed back into my life again."

—likelysam

21."I had a roommate once who was a controlling, always-angry jerk. I knew I was 100% done trying to make her happy and would be moving out ASAP when one night, I'd forgotten to put the trash can out on the curb. In anger, she went all the way out to get the trash can, but parked it in front of my side of the garage door so I'd have to put it out in order to get in. When I got inside, she was blocking the stairs with her whole body so that she could keep me from getting to my room so that she could scream at me. The thing is, I'd just found out that my brother was dying on the way home, and I was sobbing. She didn't ask why; she just kept screaming. I begged her to stop, but she just got louder. It was 20 minutes, no joke, before she let me up the stairs."

22."My 38-year-old son had abandoned the mother of his second child and the baby with no remorse, since he was only the father of that baby if he said that he was, despite DNA testing. Then, he told me that he didn’t want me to attend his wedding (10 days before) because looking at me gave him hives! I finally had to face the fact that I’d raised a true narcissist. It was painful, to say the least!"

—Anonymous, 70, Ohio

23."When I found out [my friend] was sleeping with my brother in my childhood bedroom and never said anything to me about it."

—Anonymous, 37, Rhode Island

24."I cut off my step-sister who I basically grew up with, which was a two-step process. I stopped talking to her when my parents cleaned out her room and found years of my belongings that she had stolen and hidden. And I cut her off emotionally and asked the family to respect that boundary when she called me a whore on a phone call with MY mom who was refusing to give her money. She had more to say, but it was especially hurtful because just a few days before, I had reached out to give her condolences on a sibling of hers who had passed and told her that we would always be family. Then she pulled this. Clearly, there is some mental illness at play, but I didn’t deserve her behavior — and I’m much happier pretending that she doesn’t exist."

—karismaw

25."In December of 2019, my Grandma got diagnosed with cancer for the third time in her life, and then lockdown happened. My aunt and her four kids continued to have large parties and brought my grandma around a ton of people, even though she was going through chemo and the pandemic. She finished chemo and a couple of months later, one of my cousins had a large party for her kid's birthday and of course, they had my grandma there. She caught COVID-19, and my aunt complained about having to take an entire day off of work to get my grandma tested, even though she was the one who exposed her."

"She ended up having to go to hospice the weekend after Thanksgiving, and my aunt delayed her end-of-life care so that they could have a Zoom call opening Christmas gifts, even though my grandma was miserable and in pain. My aunt and her family continued to play martyrs, mock COVID precautions, and make the whole thing about themselves instead of what was best for my grandma. I never spoke to any of them again."

—ntmydtryoubtch

26."When my mother screamed in my face for days and accused me of murdering my sister because I was giving her morphine prescribed to her by her doctor for end-of-life care with hospice. My mom said to me over and over that I just wanted her to die. This was coming from a woman who has been in and out of drug treatments, and had had multiple doctors in five different states so that she could get narcotics."

"Oh, but it gets better. Unbeknownst to me, she took a couple of pills from a friend of my sister that came to see her as she lay dying. My mom had no idea what they even were. Two hours later, she was lying in the front yard looking up at the pretty blue sky (her words) and her dress was half off with both her breasts exposed as new visitors arrived. They came in and pulled me aside and awkwardly told me about my mom in the yard. Needless to say, she lost two daughters that day. Seven years later, I am still okay with not having to deal with the saga that is my mother."

—Anonymous, 47, Missouri

27."Six months after standing up for her in her wedding, I was assaulted by one of our friends, who was another member of the bridal party. I immediately became the slutty liar."

28."There were several red flags throughout our friendship, but I looked past them since I was a new mom and in desperate need of a mom friend. She and her husband wanted to renew their vows and had an extremely tiny budget, so I offered her my wedding gown to borrow for her special occasion with the stipulation that she would get it cleaned afterward before returning it to me. The vow renewal was beautiful, but in the following weeks, she dismissed my requests trying to get my gown back. She simply stated that she didn’t have enough money to clean it yet. One day, she asked me to run over to her house to grab something for her while she was out with her child. Being concerned that maybe something had happened to my dress, I looked in her closet to check on it. Instead of hanging up, I saw my wedding gown crumpled up on the floor with a used, unclean, vibrator on top of it. Out of anger, I grabbed the dress and left. I haven’t talked to her since."

29."My mom died when I was 16. Because I was underage and my mom was unmarried, my grandmother took it upon herself to collect all of my mother's things and decide what I could have until I was old enough to get everything else. Fast forward 10 years, my grandmother is moving, and I decided to ask for my mom's dresser. She told me that she offered it to someone else already. Why would you not ask me first? Then it blew up into me being selfish; other people are entitled to MY mother's things as well, apparently. She also hadn't seen or asked about her new great grand baby and told people she shouldn't have to work around the baby's nap time."

—Anonymous, 30, Oregon

30."I met an actress friend while working a part-time job. She was really funny, kind, and one of the few people I liked working with. We started to get lunch, coffee, go on hikes — things were great until they were not. She has a Wikipedia page that was created by fans or whoever makes them. I work in software, so she would call me or text me nonstop midday to update her Wikipedia to change the craziest things. I did it twice, but then it became an obsession, and I distanced myself because it was stressful. Also, I could have cared less that her skating school from the early 2000s was spelled wrong! I wish her the best, but her obsessive mindset wasn’t for me."

—Anonymous, 32, California

31."My friend convinced me after many months that I should drink with him for the first time. I had never had alcohol before, which he knew, but he reassured me about everything I told him that I was nervous about, so I agreed. That day, he asked me to bring my friend, a girl he liked, with me to the bar. It was a fun time at first, until he left me drunk and alone so he could get some 'alone time' with her. What’s worse is that he left me with his friend who I had never met before, and who kept insisting that I drink more and more. Thank goodness my friend wasn’t that interested in him, so they came back right before the guy piling me with drinks got me into a cab to his place. Obviously, I felt hurt and abandoned because I felt that he had a responsibility to at least stay with me while I drank since he was the one who convinced me to do it, so I cut him off. To this day, he still thinks he did nothing wrong."

32."The day he put his hands on me while I was holding our newborn son."

—Anonymous, 24, Florida

33."I have a sweet senior rescue dog with a lot of emotional issues. She does not do well with loud noises and doesn't understand many English commands as she lived around Spanish-speaking people. An ex-friend was visiting one day and called her to him. She's terrified of strange men (and was probably abused by one) and had only just started to tolerate the ex-friend, so she was hesitant. He yelled aggressively, 'COME HERE.' She had no idea what he was saying and peed herself at the sudden loud noise before running away. I told him, 'How dare you speak to her like that?' and his reply was, 'She needs to learn how to behave.' My dog is just about perfect — gentle, doesn't steal food, housebroken, doesn't destroy things. She knows how to behave. I was already at my wits' end with this guy for other matters, and that was the final straw. I told him to get out of my house and never contact me again."

—Traveling Rae

34."When I called and asked my 'best friend' to be a bridesmaid in my wedding, she told me that she would not come if I invited my own mother. This was the last straw that showed me how toxic, unsafe, and damaging our friendship had been for 10 years. I hung up on her and haven't spoken to her for almost 30 years."

35."My father and stepmom cut us off after doubting that I am my father's real daughter for 46 years. (By the way, my stepmother is adopted herself.) Then, when my daughter got a DNA test to show she is my father's grandchild, they started contact again. Wow...no way, no thank you, have a great life without me in it. After being my parents for nearly a half-century, should that matter either way anyhow?"

—Anonymous, 47, Texas

36."My dad had passed away after I gave him care, love, and worked my ass off for his final hospital stay. I then took care of the funeral, burial, etc. I had brought my kids and mom to his grave site regularly until six years later when my mom got sick. We needed money to hire care workers, and I found out from a very old family friend that my dad actually had money, and gifted all that to my younger sister without mom's knowledge. Now, my mom depends on the hourly care that I manage to provide, and my sister sits on that money refusing to admit the embezzlement. I don't have the energy to do the legal maneuvers to recover the fund, partially because she is in Canada. Yep. Humans!"

—Anonymous, 56, MA

37."When my toxic mom wielded a tree saw at myself and my son while threatening us, that was the final straw. Three days later she acted like nothing had happened and asked if we were coming to Thanksgiving. It was a solid no. I haven't spoken to her since."

—Anonymous, 43, Florida

38."My soon-to-be ex-husband. I had a lump in my breast that needed an ultrasound, and breast cancer runs rampant in my family, so I was very concerned. He was mad and yelled at me because 'who would support him and our kids' if I was sick with cancer. He was voluntarily unemployed at the time. I realized that he was not a person I could depend on as a life partner, and I kicked him to the curb. The lump was a cyst, and I am 100% healthy and happy!"

39."My widowed mom raised me and my brother from a young age. I was a daddy‘s girl, and my mom was somewhat jealous of this, so when my father died, I knew I was screwed. My brother could do no wrong in my mother’s eyes, and I was always blamed for something, no matter if it was true or not. She always believed him. He lived with my mom well into adulthood. Fast forward: My mom was very old and very ill in a nursing home, and she was dying. My brother never called me to tell me the situation. He robbed me of sitting with her during her last hours, the ability to talk with her about our lives, basically closure. To make matters worse, I ended up handling her affairs. In probate court, he showed up with a gum wrapper written on it that my mom had signed the house over to him alone. In the end, he lost. I have not spoken to him in over 30 years. I could care less if he is dead or alive!"

—Anonymous,

40."He said, 'You know, I don’t have to be with someone who is HIV positive.' As if he was doing me a favor because nobody else would date me. I knew it was over right then."

41."A friend borrowed money from me and didn’t pay it back. We’d been dating over a year, and I had broken it off because his attitude was horrible the whole time, but our friendship lingered. My dad passed away, and he caught me at a weak time, so I lent him money, even though I felt he should get his life together and stop relying on other people. He kept delaying paying me back, and that's when I realized I’d rather pay him $300 to get him out of my life than keep pretending we were ever made of anything of substance in the first place. So I gave up ever getting it back and blocked him in my phone."

—Anonymous, 32, California

42."Was it when my then-husband punched the wall next to my head? When he refused to have sex with me but openly lusted after his coworkers? When he laughed after I slipped and nearly fell, calling me a dumbass? Or when I found a coworker sitting on OUR bed, supposedly to see how comfortable it was? No, It was when he wanted me to rent a one-bedroom in our apartment complex while he tried to figure out if he wanted to remain married. That’s when I snapped, said, 'Fuck you,' and left. We’d been married for 18 months."

—mynewlifeinpink

43."He was my absolute best friend since we were 16 years old. As the years went, he developed a serious dependence on alcohol. It led to him wrecking his car, stealing thousands of dollars from a developmentally disabled adult, and physically assaulting his partner and an elderly woman in the same night. It wasn't the addiction-driven behavior that was the final straw — addiction is a disease, and I was ready to support him through it — it was his complete refusal to take total ownership of how his addiction had hurt his family and friends."

"He lied constantly about going to AA meetings, barely completed rehab, etc. It was a constant worry, and new details were always emerging about how deep his dishonesty had gone. Finally, it got to the point where the lying and manipulation of detailing events was really crossing serious boundaries for me. It was probably one of the hardest things that I've ever done, and I still grieve the friendship often. But the peace that absence has brought my life (and others' lives) tells me it was the right decision. I think often how much I hope he finds the help he desperately needs, or I'm afraid he'll end up completely alone. He just HAS to be the one to do it."

—Anonymous, 32, Oklahoma

44."One of my best friends for many years gave her firstborn the name of my estranged sister, who almost ruined my relationship with my family — and has been one of my most vulnerable topics for years. When I confronted her, she said she didn't think this would hurt me. Even after I told her how horrible this felt for me, she just shrugged it off. The name is super rare, and she obviously had a ton of other options. So either she did not listen to me for the past 10 years, or she just did not care about my feelings at all. Either way, I deserve better friends than that."

—Anonymous, 32, Washington State

45."My husband’s mistress texted me to tell me that he was on his way home (after spending the night with her). I left that morning and never looked back. I’ve been happily divorced for several years now."

46."I realized my mother's sister needed to be out of my life when a few days after my 38-year-old husband died from complications of leukemia, she was telling anyone and everyone that I had a million-dollar life insurance policy (nope), that I was having multiple affairs (while recovering from a total hysterectomy and caring for two young kids as well as my husband, home, and job), and that I 'never loved him.' It's been 20 years, and the two times she has been back in my life were both reinforcements that my decision was the right one."

—Anonymous, 57, Indiana

47."A certain friend was all about money and having the perfect Instagram life. She always put me down for being a 'poor teacher' and would frequently bring up my low paycheck at social gatherings and turn it into a cruel joke. She finally got a job in her field of study, and when I asked about her starting pay, she responded with, 'It's never polite to ask what someone's being paid' and refused to answer the question. We drifted away after that."

—Anonymous, 36, Texas

48."In high school, I started ghosting my best friends after they told me that I could never lead a happy life or be accepted by God if I did not forgive one of my older brothers who had sexually assaulted me as a child."

—Anonymous, 28, Guam

49."My brother has always been cruel, selfish, and intentionally mean. When going through my divorce, he and the father of my children continued to speak. What was once a competitive and hasty relationship, suddenly was a brother-in-law friendship that could not be broken. The two spoke, and my brother hung out with my children and their father without having spoken to me in years. The excuse 'I would have never done this to undermine you as a parent' didn’t even stick for a moment. I am dangerous at spotting toxicity, and this moment blew open the door to my understanding of the betrayal bond."

—Anonymous, 34, Kentucky

50."While I am still in the midst of cutting him off, my husband burned my final straw in a car crash. After six years of trying to save this man from himself and his demons, his addiction to alcohol is too much. It has been bad for a while. He also does not help with ANY bills, household chores, and what money he does make, he spends at the bar or on beer. All of his family, including his mother, have already cut all contact with him. The day it happened, we had been fighting because he had overstepped and grabbed my child, his stepson, by the shirt. I very clearly told him that if he EVER touched my child in any way again, I would put him in jail. He yelled and screamed that he had been brought up that way and he turned out fine. (He did not.) I did not back down, and he said that he wanted a divorce before leaving for the bar at 11 a.m. At 6 a.m. the next morning, the sheriff was at my door to tell me my 'husband' had been in an accident."

51."There were many, many times that SHOULD have been the final straw with my ex-fiancé. However, we had had a few threesomes with a friend of ours, and all was good until one day when I was at work, he sent a naked photo of me and the girl to my phone and said, 'You guys are perfect for each other.' I did nothing to spark this. It just came out of the blue from his own insecurities (Also, note that HE was the one that started the whole threesome thing). My response was asking him to please delete the photo. The final straw for me was when he replied 'no.' If anyone will hold onto nude photos of you for collateral, it’s time to get them out of your life. I’m sure he still has that photo and looks at it to this day. Lol."

—Anonymous, 30, Tennessee

52."It was my biological father — and when he accused me of sleeping with two of my four step brothers and used the accusations to try to get custody of my brother against my mom. I wasn’t sleeping with anyone. I was 12."

—Anonymous, 43, Indiana

53."My ex and I were together for four years, living together for three. I bought my first home, and he agreed to pay half of the mortgage for rent. I had to fight him every month for his half, for two years. The final straw was me coming home from a long day at work and finding a literal turd in the toilet, clearly from hours earlier. He was at the store, so I texted him, and his response was 'What do you want me to do here?' I said, 'Flush the damn toilet.' I broke up with him two days later. This was not the first time he did this. Oh, and he was 27."

—jessnicole62194

54."During the lockdown, I found a burner phone that my now ex-husband was using to contact his latest affair. I had put up with cheating for years, and that was the final straw. I filed for divorce and never looked back."

55."During a party at his home, this 'friend,' who was intoxicated at the time, abruptly interrupted a conversation that I was having with a group of people by saying, 'You need to go back to your own country. Go back where you came from.' I immediately walked home alone and cried. I am a Mexican immigrant, and those words still cut deep. I have never brought it up and see him around my neighborhood occasionally. Something tells me he probably doesn't even remember what he did, but I will never forget it."

—Anonymous, 47, KS

Have you ever cut someone out of your life? What was your breaking point? If you feel comfortable, share in the comments below.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.