How can you identify when someone is playing mind games with you?

Anger is a natural response. I can only opine that if you could tell when someone is playing mind games, they aren’t.

I would say a healthy outlet for your anger would be ideal. Run until you’re exhausted. Or do push ups, until you can’t. A heavy punching bad would be great. Good exercise, and a great way to blow off some steam.

I’m sorry someone messed with your head.

Peace n love.

Without knowing the details, it is not possible to assess what happened to you. By your own account, you graduated high school by the skin of your teeth and attended a subpar university, which you flunked out of. None of this matters anymore. Take stock of yourself and decide what you want to do with the rest of your life. For mercy sakes, stop overthinking everything and just DO SOMETHING.

The way to defend against a verbal game is to look for the truth and point out the false. Not always easy to do especially when the game player knows how to push your buttons.

Try to calmly examine what is being said to you. Everything many have a slight element of truth but then is also wildly distorted in a negative way all designed to make you feel bad and make the person playing the game feel good.

Start to pick away at the facade of false claims against you and little by little you can tear down the negativity, bitterness and lies directed at you.

Good health!

Can I speak candidly?

I think you are further along than you think. You are way past anger. It has been obvious (to me) that you have been suffering from depression for some time now and I think that you have finally reached the acceptance phase on this hurt.

You are now actually talking about what happened, trying to understand what happened and how it happened, trying to get back you dignity and self worth and the next step, the one you are now attempting, is to get back to living your life instead of just existing.

Good for you.

Be a little more introspective. Look back over your prior situation and look for clues that you missed. Learn to be a little more wary. perhaps cynical (don’t overdo this). Try to figure out whether this was a direct attack on you or whether you were just one of many who got caught in this trap. And realize that you will have developed some scar tissue from this episode as well as some insight that will make it a little harder for others to do the same to you in future.

Good luck with your new outlook. Enjoy.

They are living, breathing, and their lips are moving.
Welcome to the real world where EVERYBODY plays mind games of one sort or another. If they’re not playing mind games, then, possibly, they’re just like you.

Get rid of the last knot by forgiving them for what they did to you, and your mind.

It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m still trying every day, but forgiving them and letting it go is the only way to move past a severe mental blow imo.

Think about it, they did harm to you or your psyche but now THEY are probably happy, forgot all about it, and moved on. You deserve that for yourself.

And honestly, not finishing college is not the end of the world. You can get back to it if you like, online courses or night classes, it’s not a big deal anymore. Plus I know many people that have ‘gone crazy’ a few times in life, you can’t blame yourself in this messed up world, just do better and move on. If you want to hear some gone crazy stories, I have some that may make yours look peaceful…lol

Do you have a therapist with whom you are satisfied?