EP 23: Social Media Has Created a New Kind of Abuse

Breaking Cycles with Maria · Jan 22, 2026 · 12m

What actually qualifies as abuse?

When does abuse become domestic violence?

And how did social media turn these life-saving terms into weapons of confusion?

In this episode of Breaking Up with Toxicity, Maria Shkreli, LMHC breaks down the critical differences between dysfunction, toxicity, abuse, and domestic violence—and explains why misusing these terms can cause real harm.

As a society, we’ve evolved. Behaviors that were once normalized—like yelling, explosive tempers, and emotional volatility—are now being questioned. That progress matters.

But somewhere along the way, context and nuance…