Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Mental Health
Joe Harker
A psychologist has named three of the biggest warning signs to be on the lookout for if you fear your partner is manipulating you.
There's always an element of risk involved with relationships, you're really baring your heart and soul to another person.
In doing so, you're giving them the chance to deal you some serious emotional damage if they were so inclined, and sadly, some partners end up being horribly manipulative.
But psychologist Dr Lalitaa Suglani explained the three big things to look out for.
Advert
She was speaking about the ways that a manipulative partner might try to stop you from leaving the relationship.
You've surely heard of this term by now, which comes from a 1938 play called Gas Light, in which a husband steals from his wife by tricking her into thinking she's mentally unwell.
He does this by secretly dimming and brightening the lights in their home, then tells his wife she's imagining what she saw.
Advert
It's been used all too often in real relationships, as Dr Lalitaa said: "This involves manipulating someone into questioning their own perceptions, their own memories and sanity.
"Abusers may use gaslighting techniques to make their partner doubt their experiences, making them feel confused and uncertain about leaving."
With a gaslighting partner it can be hard to tell the truth from fiction, as someone you ought to be able to trust most in the world is actively trying to manipulate you.
"Your partner may isolate you from your family and your friends, and other supportive networks," the psychologist warned, and this is yet another cause for concern.
Advert
She explained that a manipulative partner would do this control the access other people had to you, and to keep a handle on what sort of information was going around.
If you don't know what's going on outside your relationship then it's going to be harder to leave it, and if your life is built around just one person then cutting ties with them will be a much bigger step.
How this works will come as no surprise to anyone, as the psychologist explained that a manipulative person could be trying to control all of the money in their partner's life, thus 'making them dependent for money or resources'.
Advert
She explained that this would 'create barriers to leaving', as they could use the fear of being unable to support yourself as a way to stop you from leaving.
Dr Lalitaa also noted that this control could extend to children in the relationship, as if you felt financially unable to leave then it'd be even harder to take the children with you.