The trick is to pay attention to how you feel then decide how you want to react to it. This takes a great deal of self awareness and control. If you're stuck on auto-pilot when you start to feel angry, hurt, disappointed, or wronged, you are putting them in the driver's seat of your life.
Establish healthy boundaries
It's important to set healthy boundaries for yourself. Say no, speak up, and ask for what you need. When people violate your boundaries, follow through with clear consequences.
Sometimes people try to assert power over others and control situations. They may do this out of anxiety because they worry that things will go wrong if they do not maintain control. In other cases, it may be to assert dominance. In this case, it is a form of abuse.
Be Direct & Express How You Feel
Explain to the person how you're being affected by what they're saying or let them know you're also feeling stressed. While this might be uncomfortable, it reminds the other person that you have feelings, too, which can sometimes keep them from making the conversation all about them.
They frequently attempt to exert close control over the actions of friends, colleagues, and family in order to achieve their own goals. What upsets a control freak? Those who don't understand them or are unable to meet their expectations.
It can and often does become abusive, especially when it makes you feel afraid or intimidated. If someone in your life is controlling, it is important to reach out to friends or family who are supportive. Learn to strengthen your boundaries and talk to a therapist if you can.
Whether rooted in a lack of confidence, past wounds, dependency, a deep sense of not deserving, or the anxiety of being, the fear of self-assertion lays the foundation for a tendency to feel controlled. The inherent need to please others may dominate and compete with your motivation to assert yourself.
Being manipulated, used, or controlled by another person can lead to a number of harmful effects. Some may be so subtle, that you don't realize until you're cemented into a toxic, controlling relationship with your friend, coworker, or partner. Controlling people tend to prey on the kindest folks they can find.
The colloquialism control freak usually describes a person with an obsession with getting things done a certain way. A control freak can become distressed when someone causes a deviation in the way they prefer to do things.
A Type A personality likes to be in control of their environment and their lives. They're normally not very detail-oriented, choosing to delegate details to others. They're usually very goal-oriented and practical in their solutions.
Control seekers are often obsessive-compulsive, angry (either overt or passive-aggressive), phobic, or even mood-disordered. These people need control because, without it, they fear things would spiral out of control and their lives would fall apart.
Behind almost every controlling action is fear, such as the fear of being rejected, being alone, or of poverty. Still, fear doesn't excuse the controlling behavior, but it offers some perspective on handling controlling behavior. Here are a few tips on how to cope with controlling behavior: Try to remain calm.
Some people, known as dark empaths, understand the feelings of others but don't feel these feelings themselves. They might act like they care, but deep down, they don't feel sympathy for you or have a desire to help. They use their understanding of your feelings to manipulate you.
A Highly Sensitive Person (HSP) is an individual who perceives and processes sensory information intensely, exhibits profound emotional responses, demonstrates heightened empathy, requires periods of seclusion for relief, and typically avoids distressing situations.
Per Orloff, “Ordinary empathy means our heart goes out to another person when they are going through a difficult period.” Empaths, however, actually sense other people's emotions, energy and physical symptoms in their own bodies.
A person who feels insecure may suffer from an inferiority complex, which makes them believe they will never be good enough to be loved or wanted. Others may exhibit controlling or manipulative behavior.
Toxic people love to manipulate those around them to get what they want. This means lying, bending the truth, exaggerating, or leaving out information so that you take a certain action or have a certain opinion of them. They'll do whatever it takes, even if it means hurting people.
The toxic traits of a toxic person include unsupportive and unpleasant behavior, being manipulative, judgmental, controlling, and self-centered. Such people can be the cause of various negative feelings and emotions that you may be experiencing like depression, anxiousness, worthlessness, and unhappiness.