Emotional manipulation is a form of covert aggression i.e. the sole aim of emotional manipulators is to subdue and have your self-worth in their hands. They manipulate people’s mind, cart away with people’s sense of freewill, and this brings immeasurable bad effects on the victim’s emotion.
Some of the emotional manipulator traits are listed in my previous post on the Ways to spot Emotional Manipulator.
If you suspect you’re being trapped gradually by an emotional manipulator, then now is the time to act. Follow some of the guides listed below. But, also note that, it’s always better to speak with a counselor on this matter. Act now and never let your self-worth fade away.
Assess the worth of your relationship.
Taking a look at the amount of damages your relationship with the emotional manipulator has incurred on your self-worth, you may need to question yourself if it really worth it. Should you continue? So, it is advisable you obtain clarification on what you stand to gain in the relationship the nearest future. If not, it’s better you cut off the contact with them entirely.
Use assertiveness.
You can confront emotional manipulators, by asserting yourself to stand your ground. Stop your automatic compliance and take the control i.e. you reply to each situation with “I’ll get back to you on that when I have the time to think about it.” Make it known you already spotted the subtlety in them, and will no longer bend to their wishes.
Change yourself, not the manipulator
To be honest with you, you can’t just out-manipulate or change a skillful emotional manipulator. But, the only possible thing is to make a change within yourself. You gain yourself a level of freedom by working on your decision making and willpower. This will make you very hard for a manipulator to control and eventually calls it a quit.
4 Ways to Boost your Self-control