What is your philosophy when it comes to strained family relationships?

(Family relationships meaning parents, siblings, grandparents, adult children or adult grandchildren)





1) Keep the relationship going, ';because they are your (fill in the blanks above)';, no matter how much it hurts or how it is affecting your health?





or





2) Sever ties and move on with your life and give them no second thought, no matter what?What is your philosophy when it comes to strained family relationships?
I'd pick a combination. They are still your (fill in the blank) but that doesn't mean you have to be around them. Having the same experiences myself, I've found it best to live my own life regardless of what some family members think, but give them the courtesy I'd give a stranger on the street.What is your philosophy when it comes to strained family relationships?
Be civil and polite and learn to accept them for who they are.
I come from a pretty close family. I say you should try to keep it the best you could because someday you may need them. Don't burn your bridges. But, at the same time, it doesn't hurt to keep your distance, either. I've had quite a few family feuds. I'm the oldest...the one my grandmother said to my other brothers, ';You don't want to turn out like him';. I'm also the one whose father said to a couple different girlfriends, ';Isn't he an @sshole?'; Yeah, those things do alot for your confidence. I could have easily turned my back left them in my dust, but I stuck it out. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't have seen my liitle niece and nephew like I do amongst other small family things. So for that, I'm glad I stuck it out.
Try communication and honesty.
It depends on the person. If you are a person who can forgive and move on, then do so.


If it is affecting your health, you need to distance yourself from that person. Get better. Take care of yourself first.
It depends. Sometimes when it gets bad you just gotta let it go. Make some alone time for yourself. But family is very important nonetheless. I say you try to work it out first, so no one can say you didn't. :)
I think your choices are too extreme and don't allow for much compromise. It might be possible to keep up a certain reduced level of communication without allowing that relationship to take over your life and ruin your health. It may be that learning new ways to manage the relationship will help you cope. And it isn't always necessary to, as you phrase it, ';sever ties...and give them no second thought';. That philosophy allows for virtually no relationship and few opportunities to improve the relationship will occur with this attitude. I'll venture that the strategy of cutting family off completely is a common formula for later regrets at having done that.





On the other hand, if you persist with the status quo in which something is really bothering you and try to do nothing to improve, you will not have solved anything.





Perhaps less contact with the offending family and new more satisfying relationships with friends of your choosing could provide the healing necessary to enable you to work on mending whatever is broken, or to see poisoned relationships more clearly for what they are doing to you.





Then, there's always the possibility of talking with a disinterested third party (counselor, physician, clergy, trusted friend) and the family member himself to try to improve the situation.





Only after this can you make a rational decision about ending or continuing a relationship of any kind, including family members.
It depends on how bad it is. If there is a person who is just without hope, I would just sever ties. Short of that it's worth a shot but I sure wouldn't spend much time.
I whould first try the frist one, and if that does not work then i whould go to the second one.