Signs you are being manipulated in a relationship

Relationship manipulation is so sneaky and subtle. Most of the time, it sneaks into relationships without you noticing right away and leaves you feeling insecure and dependent on the manipulator in unhealthy ways. If you are unable to recognize the manipulation early, it often disguises itself as love, care, or concern. Manipulators always go for the emotions of their victims. They make you feel guilty, fearful, or obligated-that is to say, a way of undermining your own reality and self-perception. The control may be almost imperceptible until you feel the damage that has been done to you. Knowing this, you will be in a position to reclaim your power and be able to set boundaries and make appropriate choices about the relationship. Now, in case you come to realise that your partner emotionally manipulates you all the time, then it might be the right time for you to change the nature of your relationship and get some help. Here are five significant signs that indicate that you are being manipulated in your relationship.

Gaslighting is a manipulative tactic that makes you doubt your perception of reality. Your partner might tell you that something in the past never happened, deny that they said something to hurt your feelings, and even accuse you of being too sensitive so that you end up feeling lost and questioning your perceptions. Over time, gaslighting strips away your self-confidence and forces you to be dependent on your partner's version of reality.

Emotional blackmailing is the use of feelings of guilt, fear, or obligation to be able to manipulate your behaviour. They could threaten you with guilt and statements like, "If you loved me, you'd do this," or make you feel responsible for their happiness. This kind of emotional coercion pushes you into choices that you wouldn't normally make for yourself.

Constant efforts to isolate you from friends and family are very serious. They may depreciate loved ones, make you feel guilty for having spent time with them or create conflicts to keep you isolated. This sets you up to be isolated from a support network thus more dependent upon them and less likely to ever question the manipulative antics.

They will criticize constantly, however passive-aggressively- from snide comments about your looks and ability to overtly offensive insults. The steady stream of negativity attacks your self-respect and your sense of self-worth, so that you think you are not good enough and no one else would ever want you in this kind of relationship.

The manipulators normally use love as a tool to control you. They may stop the expression of love towards you in case you don't do what they want. This manipulative behaviour makes you a puppet for the kind of behaviour they want to see in you, just to get their love or attention once more.

If a person always mistreats you, but instead of apologising and fixing the bad behaviour if they play the victim then it is a clear sign of emotional manipulation. How? Well, if they manage to convince you that they are the victim here, you'll empathise with them and let their bad behaviour slide by. In turn, they'll continue to mistreat and manipulate you.