Toxic Friends on Shine

Friend or Foe: My BFF ratted me out to my husband

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Dear Friend or Foe, My so-called best friend—“Leslie”—apparently didn’t agree with the way I was going about leaving my husband. So she thought it wise to e-mail me, and CC him, about all the things I was doing that she disapproved of. To say the e-mail was harsh is an understatement. She brought up stuff that was clearly meant to be private. Her defense: "You told me that you told him everything. It’s not my fault if you were lying." At the time, I considered her behavior to be nothing less than malicious ...

9 signs your friend is toxic

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Susan Shapiro Barash, author of Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships, on how to tell when your friendship is unhealthy … and how to disengage.

The colloquial term "frenemy" was coined to describe a complicated relationship wherein a person causes a friend such pain and anguish that there is a blur between this person being your "friend" or "enemy." Why is it so hard to tell the difference between the two opposite words that society had to create a fuzzy word to describe a shade of gray? For one, our parents didn’t raise us with built-in "bad friend sensors" because our girlfriends are different to us than they were to our mothers or grandmothers, explains Susan Shapiro Barash, a nationally regarded gender expert and author of Toxic Friends: The Antidote for Women Stuck in Complicated Friendships , an upcoming tome on dealing with female relationships.

Momversation: Toxic Friendships

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On Monday, she's your best friend; by Tuesday, she won't return your calls. She's your frenemy... you know, your friend-slash-enemy. But do you really need her in your life? Dana Loesch of Mamalogues asks our panelists, including guest Karen Walrond of chookooloonks.com, "How do you handle a toxic friend?"

Have you had a frenemy? Do you currently? Do you think people should cut toxic friends out of their lives or try to repair the relationships? Join the Momversation by commenting in the forums below: