It’s an awful thing to realize that you can’t trust your partner and that they don’t respect your life choices. And yet, knowing the truth about who they are is still better than letting them manipulate and control you.
A distraught internet user, who has been a vegetarian all of her life, begged the ‘Am I Overreacting’ online community to weigh in on a horrible situation with her boyfriend. She revealed how her partner made a nice dinner for both of them to trick her into eating meat, and then laughed about it. You’ll find the full story, including the internet’s advice for the woman, below.
It can be heartbreaking to realize that your significant other completely disrespects you
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This vegetarian woman revealed how her toxic boyfriend shared his true colors by tricking her when he volunteered to make dinner
Image credits: Curated Lifestyle / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Jason Briscoe / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
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Controlling individuals dislike boundaries, won’t take responsibility for their mistakes, and will try to dictate what you can and cannot do
The awful thing is that some people completely disregard your choices, wants, and needs because they think they know what’s ‘best’ for you. They might take something positive, like the desire to protect and support your loved ones, and take it too far, turning it into controlling or even coercive behavior.
To be very clear, somebody who tricks you into going against your principles or manipulates you into changing your beliefs isn’t a reliable partner. It’s one thing to express concerns or to have an adult debate about life choices. It’s another thing entirely to gaslight and lie to your significant other in order to force them to change their behavior.
Controlling individuals want everyone to do things their way, going as far as controlling small and personal choices. They hate it when others disagree with them or enforce healthy boundaries.
These people will refuse to admit that they’ve made mistakes, and they will not accept blame. Moreover, they tend to be unpredictable, want to be in the spotlight, use lying to get what they want, and have a desire to dictate where you go, who you meet, and what you do. They may even try to isolate you from your family and friends.
“Controlling people want to control your reality. Truth is the bedrock of reality. They will try to deny your reality by lying about their behavior or yours. They may insist you’re the crazy one when you try to contradict them,” WebMD warns.
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Some controlling people will pretend to be joking so that they can openly criticize or make fun of you
Meanwhile, Verywell Health points out that controlling people might pretend to be kidding or joking around to give themselves permission to say or do whatever they want. “This form of manipulation allows a partner to openly criticize, mock, or hurt you and make you feel bad or stupid if you respond.”
Furthermore, Healthline notes that a controlling individual will often criticize you to try to undermine your confidence in private or public. For example, they might exaggerate your flaws, avoid acknowledging your successes, make mean jokes about you, criticize how you dress or speak, and get angry if you don’t answer your phone right away.
What’s more, they are expert gaslighters. “They underplay your experience by lying or accusing you of being overly sensitive. If you’re upset about something they told you last week, they’ll deny ever having said it and that it’s all in your mind. You start second-guessing yourself all the time.”
It’s also a major red flag if they try to change you. “They’ll try to mold you to suit their own interests by pressuring you to make changes,” Healthline warns.
According to Verywell Health, you may be stuck in a toxic, violent relationship if your partner embarrasses or ridicules you, makes you question your decisions, and uses intimidation or threats to control your behavior.
Other relationship red flags include your significant other repeatedly checking where you are, blaming you for how they feel or act, preventing you from seeing your family or friends, and forcing you to change yourself in order to ‘fix’ their behavior.
What do you think, Pandas? How would you react if your partner tricked you into disregarding your values, dietary preferences, or important life choices? How do you protect your boundaries and well-being? Let us know in the comments.
Here’s the advice that the internet gave the distraught young woman
Later, the woman shared a very important update about her relationship
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