6 Signs Your Partner’s Playing Mind Games With You
These are the games you don’t want to play.
Are they in? Or out?
Do they want to see me? Or not?
Am I wasting my time? Or do I need to hang in there?
Let’s be honest, a little game playing goes on at the start of most relationships as you test the water, gauge interest and try to figure out what’s going on.
But ongoing mind games can drive you crazy with frustration. Because when the ground beneath you keeps shifting, it can feed an anxiety that never quite goes away.
My partner plays games is a phrase you hear often in therapy. And it’s always struck me as a weirdly light-hearted term for the (often dark) psychological manipulation going on underneath.
The trouble with game playing is that it tends to have winners and losers. When one person “gets” something, the other misses out, which is a dubious way to kick off any relationship.
Do These “Games” Have an Agenda?
They do. People who perpetually play relationship games are generally seeking something—such as control, validation, a self-esteem boost, sex, adoration, emotional soothing, a counter to their pain.
