"You may be involved with a toxic friend, parent, boss, or co-worker, and the situation may cause you overwhelming anxiety and angst. Typically, people who act toxic do not stand alone. They almost always recruit "minions." Before you know it, a lot of your "friends" have turned on you. Their mischaracterizations, distortions, and blame-shifting occur behind your back, so it is difficult to defend yourself."
"Being stuck in this situation is awful. It feels as if you have very little recourse and there is no end in sight. However, you may have a superpower that you do not realize, and it is your emotional intelligence. When used strategically, three emotionally intelligent abilities can save you in this situation. First, emotional regulation. You are probably being continually gaslit, but your ability to refrain from getting defensive and "firing back" can be a life saver in this situation."
Toxic people often recruit allies and spread mischaracterizations, distortions, and blame-shifting behind a target's back, making confrontation difficult. Their tactics include weaponizing encounters and twisting facts to portray the target as the villain. Reacting by recruiting one's own supporters tends to backfire because manipulators already control perceptions and further involvement appears as escalating drama. Emotional intelligence provides three abilities to counter this: emotional regulation, emotional depth, and emotional endurance. Emotional regulation prevents getting defensive and denies manipulators the reactive response they seek. Emotional depth keeps a person grounded, calm, and balanced. Emotional endurance allows one to tolerate uncomfortable situations until disengagement becomes possible.
Read at Psychology Today
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]