<![CDATA[This study explored emotional distress and psychological entrapment among individuals who had experienced a toxic romantic relationship, using an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. Two young adults who met the inclusion criteria of having experienced and exited a toxic relationship, and of reporting ongoing emotional distress, served as the primary participants; they were selected through purposive sampling and their accounts were further contextualized through corroborating interviews with two close informants, who were not analyzed as primary IPA cases. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, non-participant observation, and documentation, and analyzed using IPA. Findings indicate that toxic relationships developed through a gradual escalation of harmful behavior, produced an erosion of both participants’ self-concept that extended beyond momentary distress, and centered on a mechanism of psychological entrapment in which awareness of harm did not translate into the capacity to leave; for one participant this awareness only crystallized after the relationship ended, while for the other it coexisted with continued entrapment. These patterns tentatively suggest, based on these two idiographic cases, that toxic relationships may be more usefully understood as a dynamic, multi-stage psychological process—spanning escalation, self-erosion, entrapment, and post-relationship identity reconstruction—rather than as a static condition. This study contributes an in-depth, culturally situated account of how psychological entrapment and post-breakup identity reconstruction are subjectively experienced, offering a foundation for more contextually grounded prevention and counseling approaches for young adults in Indonesia.]]>
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