Attacks your feelings and bonds
Isolation
They cut you off from friends and family a little at a time.
The first tell
You feel alone. That feeling arrives before you can name the move.
What it sounds like
A partner says your friends are a bad influence, sulks when you see them, and asks you to stop.
Say back
My friends and family stay in my life.
If they push
If you loved me, I'd be enough.
Loving you doesn't mean losing everyone else.
How this family is disarmed
Weigh actions over words and keep your own pace.
If this is a pattern with someone close to you, and you feel afraid or controlled, a better comeback isn't the fix. Read when to stop arguing and where to get help.
Paid
See it in dating and at work
Context packs show this tactic in the settings where it does the most damage, and let you drill it against a timer.
Related tactics
- Love bombingIntense affection arrives very fast, before trust has had time to form.
- Guilt-trippingThey make you feel like a bad person for saying no.
- NeggingA put-down dressed as a compliment, meant to make you seek their approval.
- Future fakingBig promises about later are used to get what they want now.