Psychologically violent people are not just destructive; they are dangerous too.

These are not just bad people with toxic behavior that we’re talking about; they are downright immoral people, who only care about what they want from others and never think twice before harming the innocent.

They psychologically, emotionally, and even physically abuse their victims, just so they can keep them in their control.

They are individuals with extremely toxic traits who have no morals and don’t feel any remorse for all the damage they cause others. As long as they are getting what they want, they will keep on exploiting you.

However, if you know what kinds of people qualify as psychologically violent, then you might be able to understand their games and protect yourself from their negativity.

Read on to know more about the five types of psychologically violent people:

1. The person who wants to control everything about our life.

People like that cannot stand the idea of us being free in any way; our personal space and freedom are like a constant thorn in their side that they have to get rid of. Whom we meet, whom we talk to, what we wear, where we go—they will decide and control everything, and if we resist in any way, they will make our life a living hell.

They strongly believe that we don’t deserve to have our own life or our own interests. As long as we have them, we don’t need anything more to be happy.

If we plan on going out with our friends, either they will not let us go, or make a scene in front of everyone and humiliate us. If we want to visit our family, they will discourage us with all sorts of excuses and emotionally blackmail us into not going. Whatever we do and wherever we go, it has to be with them.

Such psychologically violent people can be physically abusive too. If we refuse to abide by their rules, they won’t hesitate to put their hands on us. Controlling us and traumatizing us is what they do best, and they love doing this.

2. The person who has addiction issues.

Some addicts have a way of sucking us into their vortex of pain, anger, and destruction, and before we know it, we’re trapped with no way out. Even though some may do nothing to help themselves break out of their addiction, the one thing they do extremely well is torment us every step of the way.

If we try to help them be better, they will disregard and dismiss our efforts. If we feel that we cannot keep on doing this and we want to leave, they will guilt us into staying by accusing us of being a bad person who is giving up on them in their tough times. If we confront them about their mind games and manipulations, they will turn the tables on us and tell us that if they relapse, we are the ones to blame.

They will always find a way to blame us for everything, but at the same time, won’t let us leave them. Emotionally abusing us is their favorite pastime, and seeing us in pain makes them feel better about themselves.

3. The person who always gaslights us and makes us feel crazy.

This is particularly exasperating, and emotionally and mentally taxing too. They are pretty smart when it comes to manipulating us, and they know exactly which buttons to push to make us lose it. They will hit all our sensitive and weak points and push us to the edge, and when we finally snap, they will expertly and immediately pin the whole blame on us.

They will do all this without even raising their voice or using any bad words, but they will always, always get us. This is their game. Playing all sorts of mind games with us, riling us up, pushing us to the edge, and the moment we snap, they will call us crazy. Such psychologically violent people will be sarcastic with us and humiliate us further by saying things like “Why are you overreacting? You’re shouting like a crazy person. Have you finally lost it?”

Others might not always realize what they are doing because they’re really smart about their tactics, but we will always know. They will be the composed, rational ones in the relationship, and us, the crazy one. Gaslighting us and making us out to be a mad person is their MO.

4. The person who will only take from us but never give anything back.

People like that are only concerned about getting their needs and desires met, and when the time comes for them to give back, they are nowhere to be found. They will have a million demands which they will always expect us to understand and fulfill, but if for a change, we expect certain things from them, they will accuse us of being high-maintenance and “too controlling.”

According to them, we should just be happy with whatever little they do for us, and if we expect more, then we’re the problem. It’s absolutely fine if they have a long, long list of expectations from us, but we should just be happy with the scraps they give us. It’s always about them and what they want; our needs are simply not important enough.

If something goes wrong, it’s our fault, but if something goes right, they take the credit for it. If there are problems in our relationship, we’re the reason behind all of it, but if our relationship is in a good place, then it’s because of them. They will keep taking from us, until we’ve got nothing left to give, and we’re just a shell of the person we once were.

5. The person who breaks our heart over and over again.

They want to be in “serious relationships,” but at the same time, they won’t be loyal or faithful to us. The kicker is, they will expect us to be the perfect partner for them and never look at anybody else. They will sleep around with other people without giving us a second thought, but if we mention going out with a colleague for after-work drinks, they won’t be able to take it.

Their constant infidelity will keep on breaking our heart, and if we try to leave, they will manipulate us and emotionally blackmail us into staying by making false promises about how they are going to change. And we end up trusting them because we love them, and things might seem good for some time, but it’s only temporary.

Before we know it, they have gone back to their old ways, and we are left with a broken heart and a broken spirit. Again. For them, we and the whole relationship are a joke, and something that is simply good for their ego. They will keep on dating other people while being with us and won’t care about how all of it affects us.

Being in love should feel wonderful, not heartbreaking. If you find any of these signs in your partner, or suspect them to be like these people, then you need to end things immediately and make a fresh start.

Be with someone who will love you, respect you, and cherish you, instead of breaking your spirit every step of the way.