Am I being manipulated by my partner?

[Anonymous]

Any time my partner and I have a disagreement they will walk out into public and look really sad until I feel bad and I have to go out and apologize to get her to come back inside.

Updates

+1 y

Why do they do this? And what should I do about it?

[Oliverlogan263]

Dude, that doesn't sound good at all. Some red flags there that make it seem like she could be manipulating you. A few things to think about:

- In a healthy relationship, both people should be able to communicate calmly when disagreeing, not storm off dramatically trying to guilt the other into something.

- Making you feel responsible for her emotions and making you go apologize even if you didn't do anything wrong is not ok. That puts you on the defensive.

- Leaving and forcing you to come after her takes away your ability to resolve things on your own terms and makes it all about what she wants in the end.

- It's emotional blackmail basically, banking on you caring about how others see her to get you to give in. That's messed up power dynamics.

I'd be real careful moving forward, man. Talk to her when you're both calm and let her know you won't chase after her every time - she needs to communicate like an adult. If the behavior doesn't change, you gotta look out for yourself here. You don't deserve to be manipulated or walk on eggshells, ya feel? Keep me posted but be careful with this one bro.

[slatyb]

Yes, you are. Stop doing that.

[Avicenna]

Yeah, that's manipulation

[Sevenpointfive]

can you show me how sad they look?

[Anonymous]

You sound like a perfect match.

[Anonymous]

Possibly. Please talk to her!