Tough love

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For the radio program, see Tough Love with Mick Molloy. For the episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, see Tough Love (Buffy episode).

Tough love is an expression used when someone must treat another person harshly or sternly in order to help them in the long run.

In most uses, there must be some actual love or feeling of affection behind the harsh or stern treatment to be defined as tough love. For example, genuinely concerned parents refusing to support their drug-addicted child financially until he or she enters drug rehabilitation would be said to be practicing tough love.

The rise in numbers of death of teenagers participating in tough love based programs has questioned the principle of tough love. [1]