50 Times Relatives Messed Up So Badly, They Got Ostracized By The Rest Of The Family

It doesn’t feel great to be excluded. We’re social animals, and we need positive relationships to thrive. However, not all relationships are equal. People who are constantly negative and stress us out have a negative effect on our lives. Naturally, everyone wants to spend more time with folks who energize them and boost their mood instead of those who drain them.

From a purely utilitarian perspective, you do not want to be the individual who gets ostracized. Being socially isolated and lonely wreaks havoc on a person’s physical and mental health. It increases the risk of developing serious life-threatening illnesses like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, and dementia.

In short, you want to put in at least some effort to be accepted by your social circle. If you’re constantly annoying everyone and making their lives hell, soon enough, you might find yourself completely alone. However, being alone is still preferable to being in social circles that consistently stress you out with negativity.

The New Yorker writes that in some circles there’s an effort to destigmatize estrangement. The idea is that by making the idea of cutting unhealthy people out of your life less taboo, you’re essentially creating a better environment for yourself. There’s a trend among young people who are increasingly cutting their parents out of their lives. Some are very happy that they no longer have to deal with family drama during holiday get-togethers.

However, some researchers believe that what’s happening is a continuation of what’s always been happening: cutting people out is nothing new, and we’re simply more transparent when it comes to talking about it now.

According to the founder of the nonprofit estrangement group Stand Alone, Becca Bland, it can be healthier for people to have a life beyond their family relationships. They can create a new sense of family with their friends.

Kristina Scharp, a director of the Family Communication and Relationships Lab at Rutgers University and Michigan State, told The New Yorker that people tend to look at someone who goes no-contact with family members differently than those who cut ties with, say, a bad partner.

“We’re told things like ‘Blood is thicker than water’ and ‘A family is forever.’ So, if you have a happy family, it’s really hard to imagine estrangement.” Forgiving family members doesn’t always happen. It all depends on how the person who cut them out feels about the entire situation.

Have you ever cut off ties with a relative, dear Pandas? Is there a person who your entire family seems to avoid? What did they do to get pushed away? What do you think they’d need to do to get back in everyone’s good graces?

If you feel like opening up, we’d love to hear about your experiences in the comments section at the bottom of this post.