Human Networks and Toxic Relationships

We devise a theoretical model to shed light on the dynamics leading to toxic relationships. We investigate what intervention policy people could advocate to protect themselves and to reduce suffocating addiction in order to escape from physical or psychological abuses either inside family or at work. Assuming that the toxic partner’s behavior is exogenous and that the main source of addiction is income or wealth we find that an asymptotically stable equilibrium with positive love is always possible. The existence of a third unconditionally reciprocating part as a benchmark, i.e., presence of another partner, support from family, friends, private organizations in helping victims, plays an important role in reducing the toxic partner’s appeal. Analyzing our model, we outline the conditions for the best policy to heal from a toxic relationship.