How do you deal with manipulative people?

Being a victim of manipulation is extremely upsetting and, more than that, emotionally draining. If you are stuck in a bad relationship with a manipulator, whether it’s your parent, partner, friend, or colleague, it’s hard to get out of it. Here are some of the best strategies to stop being manipulated:

Identify your weaknesses and protect them at all costs.

Manipulators are incredibly skilled when it comes to “reading” people. They also look for specific weaknesses they could easily exploit. Dr. Simon tried to identify some of the most important character traits that could make it easier for you to be manipulated.

For instance, if you deeply desire to make other people happy without taking your own needs into account, then you’re a possible victim. Also, if you hardly believe that others could ever manipulate or harm you on purpose, or if you constantly find reasons to excuse other people’s behavior, then you need to be careful with manipulative people.

They always look for people with low self-confidence and self-esteem and who are emotionally dependent on others, because those people will oftentimes fall for their manipulative tricks.