Are you someone who likes to do it all themselves? Someone who doesn’t need help from anyone else? You can do it all and take on the world? 

While being strong and independent is a huge benefit, it can do more harm than good. This independence can begin to get toxic if you never let anyone in. 

Human beings are social creatures. They crave community and a sense of belonging and have cooperated within communities for thousands of years to help each other live and grow.

Of course, there are many benefits to being capable. You want to be able to do things yourself. You might have even been hurt in the past, which has caused you to have massive trust issues, which is why you feel like you can’t rely on anyone else for support. 

But this shouldn’t always be the case. 

Finding a nice balance is the key to leading a happy and successful life. If you are toxically independent, it can harm your health. Here are a few ways this can happen and what you can do about it. 

Support

Support is one of the most important things you will gain from including others in your life. You might want to keep everything quiet and deal with things alone, but that will only get you so far. There is an element of working on yourself and growing, but you will ultimately be limited if you try to do it all alone. What many people find is that they also turn to unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with life when they don’t have friends, family, or adequate support in their life. This could be the way you handle stress and hard things in life. You might turn to binge eating, negative self-talk, overworking, and more. These are all very harmful to your health. Some might even go towards more harmful things, like substance or drug abuse. 

It is important to know that asking for help and seeking support from others is good. It might be hard to do at first, especially if you have never done it before. You may start to confide in a friend with a few small details about your life to start with and build on your relationship from there. You could also seek support from an outside source, such as a therapist. If you are struggling with self-harm through things like substance abuse, then you may wish to seek more specific support through a Premier Women's Drug & Alcohol Rehab center. 

Enjoyment 

Enjoyment keeps you human and ensures you live a fulfilling life. If you try to do everything yourself, you will not experience much enjoyment in life. This might also lead to feeling lonely and having low moods. Having people around you can really make a difference in how you feel and how happy you are. Try to meet up with a friend or join groups where you can find like-minded people. This will help you take that first step towards happiness. 

Reaching goals 

Goals are an important part of life. Not having anyone around may limit your motivation and what you can achieve. When you surround yourself with positive people, you will find that you work towards your goals much happier and more efficiently. They keep you accountable and make it more enjoyable. It will also help with being kinder to yourself and ensure you don’t overwork yourself trying to avoid people. 

Being independent can be a strength—to a certain extent. However, if you are too independent, you may begin to limit yourself.