6 Signs You Are Dealing With An Emotional Manipulator

Emotional manipulators are skilled at their trade. Their every move is calculated, aimed at controlling you into doing or thinking whatever they want. If you’re in a relationship with an emotional manipulator, you may be the last one to realize it. They have a way of constantly playing the victim, making you feel guilty and leading you to believe that they have your best interests at heart, when that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Here are six tell-tale signs that you’re dealing with an emotional manipulator.

1. They Always Play The Victim

Regardless of their part in a situation, an emotional manipulator will always play the victim. They’ll make you believe that they are innocent while others are guilty. They are constantly pointing the finger at others, while refusing to admit any wrongdoing of their own.

2. They Lie Constantly

Part of an emotional manipulator’s daily routine is lying. They lie about big situations, small details, and things that don’t even matter. Emotional manipulators lie in part just to see if they can make you believe it. They constantly embellish stories and make things up because they’re incapable of being honest and telling the truth.

4. They Twist Your Words

By the end of a conversation with someone who is emotionally manipulating you, you’re left completely and utterly confused. An emotional manipulator is an expert at twisting your words and making you question your own thoughts, opinions, and feelings. If you voice an opinion that they don’t like, they’ll casually but intentionally convince you that you don’t really feel that way.

5. They Make You Believe You’re Negotiating

As part of twisting your words, an emotional manipulator will make you believe that you’re negotiating. When it comes to situations you don’t agree on, they have a roundabout way of twisting the conversation to make you believe you’ve settled on a middle ground. In reality, they’re getting what they want and you’re not. Every single time.

5. They Make You Feel Guilty For Their Mistakes

An emotional manipulator is a pro at placing the blame on others. If they forget something, it’s because you didn’t remind them. If they’re late to meet you, it’s because you told them the wrong time. Any time they make a mistake, they turn it into your mistake before you even realize what’s happening. An emotional manipulator will never admit guilt.

6. Their Actions Don’t Match Their Words

Emotional manipulators thrive on using language to control you. They use flattering words and make promises to make you trust them, when they never had any intention of keeping their word. When they break a promise, events come full-circle, and they trick you into believing that you’re the one to blame. Then, they’ll schmooze you into giving them the benefit of the doubt and trusting them once again.