10 Signs Your “Loving” Partner Is Trying To Control You

You may think your partner is loving, caring and has your best interest at heart. But many manipulative people have a way of slowly deploying their psychological and emotional tricks to completely screw with your mind you and eventually become the more dominant person in the relationship. The sooner you can recognize these signs that your partner is trying to control you, the sooner you can get the hell out:

1. He Gets Mad When You Go Out With Friends. In a healthy relationship, your partner will encourage you to spend time with friends. In an unhealthy relationship, he’ll do anything to drive a wedge between you and your BFFs. He may say your friends are bad influences or make you choose between your relationship with him and your relationship with your pals. Just remember that someone who really loves you will never try to keep you away from people who care about you.
2. He Isolates You From Your Family. A controlling partner knows that outsiders can see right through him, so he’ll do his best to isolate you from your family. He knows those who are closer to you may call him out on his BS and try to persuade you to leave him. He can’t run the risk of you coming to your senses and leaving him for good, so he’ll cut off your support system so he can keep you under his thumb forever.
3. You’re Always the Butt of the Joke. With a partner who’s controlling, he may mask his verbal and emotional abuse as “jokes.” If you ever complain, he’ll make it seem like you have no sense of humor and you’re being way too sensitive. So you’ll try to suck it up, which gives him even more leeway to continue with the verbal abuse. Before you know it, your self-esteem is crushed and your confidence is demolished, and it’s all because your partner’s a controlling jerk.
4. He’s Overly Jealous. Jealousy is a natural human emotion, but a controlling partner will become so jealous that it starts to turn into obsessive behavior. He’ll want to know where you’re going at all times, who you’re with, and who you’re messaging when he’s not around.
5. He Makes You Feel Guilty About Everything. A huge tactic a controlling partner will use is to get you emotionally invested into the relationship early on. He’ll then play on your emotions to make you feel bad about every little thing you do. You’ll slowly give up your power and do whatever it takes to not be bombarded with those guilty feelings. This is when a controlling partner knows he has the upper hand in the relationship.
6. He Pressures You Into Bad Behavior. When you start a new workout plan, he tries to convince you to cancel your gym membership. When you try to give up alcohol for a month, he stocks your fridge up with Rosé. When you casually mention your dream to further your education, he gives you a billion reasons why it’s a bad idea. The controlling partner will always try to undermine your aspirations and attempts to be stronger, healthier and happier — he’d much rather you be weak so he can control you forever.
7. He Can’t Take No For an Answer. Don’t let him trick you into thinking he’s trying to help you step outside the box and become more adventurous. The controlling partner will habitually cross the line and try to force you to do things you’re uncomfortable with because he doesn’t care about your feelings. It’s all about him.
8. He constantly criticizes you. His criticism may start off small, like suggestions on how you should wear your hair and makeup. But over time, the controlling partner will criticize everything you do and say. He’ll have a problem with the way you laugh, the way you clean your house, and even the television shows that you watch. You’ll constantly feel like you’re trying to gain his approval, but you’re fighting a losing battle when you’re dealing with a controlling partner.
9. He Dismisses Your Feelings. Whenever you try to express yourself, your controlling partner may change the subject, tell you you’re overreacting, or completely walk away and ignore you for the rest of the day. Soon enough, you’ll keep your feelings to yourself because nothing ever gets resolved when this kind of person makes you feel like your thoughts and emotions don’t even matter.
10. He’s Threatened By Your Success. You may think your partner is your rock and your strongest support system, but it’s all a front. Deep down inside, the controlling partner is an insecure little jerk, so he’ll try his best to bring you down to his level. Whenever you experience any type of success in your life, he can never truly be happy for you. He will try to downplay all that you’ve accomplished to make himself feel better about his own lack of accomplishment.