In a toxic or unhealthy relationship, we can often see one partner holding on and hoping for change. They can hold onto this false hope for a long time, even 20 years just waiting for change to happen. They will make excuses for their partner’s behaviour while holding on to the hope things will change, without any reason to hope for it. This is a very rare example of hope being a destructive force. It keeps people in quite toxic or even sometimes abusive or dangerous relationships. This is what we call toxic hope.