What To Do About Fear, Obligation and Guilt

Fear, obligation, and guilt, all used in emotional blackmail, are ones of the most-read subjects among people who have a family member with borderline or narcissistic personality disorder. This is from my book Stop Walking on Eggshells Workbook (New Harbinger, 2002). This is part 2 of a 2 part series.

Rounding Up the Usual Suspects

In a blank book, make a list of people in your life who use emotional blackmail. If it feels like blackmail, it probably is. Think about times in your life in when people play with your sense of fear, obligation, or guilt to manipulate you. What is it that he or she wants from you, and how do they generally try to get it? Write down some of the situations in your notebook. Try to remember who said what, how you felt about it, and what you told yourself when you gave in.

DeFOGging Your Life

Read the rest of the article at my blog on Psychology Today.