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Caring is the sunny side of control. Think about these words ... how do they respond to you? Sometimes what we call salvation, help, kindness is a way to control other people. Often we ask our partner: "How are you?", "How was your day?" me a person, whether I am aware of all his events.
Uncertainty is often alarming. A codependent person knows the right way to remove it, to control another. This helps, but not for long, because a person does not solve the main problem, the problem of his own anxiety. A codependent person does not know how to ask directly. We are playing the game, "I am for you, and you are for me." We get angry and offended when we do not receive in return what, as it seemed to us, we were simply obliged to give. Your bonus, a prize for "goodness", "mercy", superpoliteness, compliance. We begin to help, when they do not ask, and again demand gratitude in return. After all, offering your help is a way to get something (care in return, gratitude, feeling that I am a “good person”). Or we are indignant behind our backs, discussing how we are unfairly offended by the world.
“I am everything to you, and you are nothing to me!”, Perhaps you have heard such a phrase, or you yourself have used it more than once in relation to your loved ones. For the desire to save the whole world, and to make it better with our help, we forget that control (even if it manifests itself in the form of care) is in any case pressure. Behind control is our, often unconscious, grandiose desire to control others. Because a codependent person thinks that he is more experienced and knows better how to live for other people. Codependents are often called “heads of the puppet theater,” where the entire world around them is puppets who just need to be put in the right places, the right ones in our opinion. Behind these blinders, we forget that control, like any pressure, causes protest. And unwillingness to communicate with us. This in turn causes resentment, with the help of which you can also control other people very cool. After all, the person at whom we are offended is simply obliged to feel guilty.
Is control always evil?
Surely, while you are reading these lines, you wanted to argue that there are situations when care, management, and control are necessary. And this is true, there are small children, people who are inadequate, for example (delusional), that threaten their lives and the safety of others, or pets who cannot cope without us. They cannot survive without our help. This example is the signal that separates natural / healthy control and the compulsive desire to control others through caring.Asking for help is the first criterion that our help is appropriate. More often a codependent person imposes it, does not allow another to ask, is ahead of events, is in a hurry to "spread straws", thereby, does not allow another (his partner, husband, child) to be responsible for his life and his mistakes We deceive ourselves when we count that others need our support. We lose touch with reality, it seems to us that almost everyone around is small and helpless. Without guidance and advice, they will "break the wood", will not survive, and will suffer.
The codependent becomes a God who knows best how to act / act / speak. At this point, the codependent person is driven by the desire to feel powerful. By controlling the lives of others, we lose control over our own. It is important to understand that the urgent need to keep everything and everyone around under control is a mechanism that originated a long time ago. Codependents come from dysfunctional families. From families where something has disturbed the usual course of the child's development. Perhaps someone close to him was sick (addiction, mental illness), or physical punishment was the norm, or one of the parents was emotionally cold. Perhaps there were very tough parenting measures in the family. In any case, this mechanism became adaptive and provided at some point a person with the opportunity to survive,
Naturally, human capabilities are limited, it is impossible to live several lives at the same time, therefore, dealing with other people, we lose control over our own life. A codependent person, supported by their own perfectionism, ignores their fatigue and gets sick from it. First of all, sleep is disturbed, this is a signal that a person is in a difficult stressful situation. His own personal life suffers, he loses opportunities for his career advancement, because he deals with the problems of other people, and not his own.
Behind all this is the need to feel nothing. Because we are accustomed to the fact that our habitual experiences relate to the negative spectrum of experiences (pain, loneliness, sadness, despair). Instead of doing something with his pain in his soul, the codependent person "rushes" to save the other. At this moment, he has the illusion that the external events surrounding him will correct him, an already difficult state of mind. You just need a little more than usual to strain and this time I will get satisfaction from how well I helped another. At the same time, I myself am a forgotten, lonely person, a person I do not need. Was, is and remain so. As long as we are unable or unwilling to organize our lives, we will take care of the lives of others.
Controlling the Family with Feelings
“If you don't do as I say, I will be offended!”, “Don't tell grandmother, she will be upset”, “You are behaving badly, you are a bad boy”, “You should be ashamed of your behavior, you are doing bad things ”. Familiar phrases? If so, then perhaps you are familiar with such a state when you do not want to feel. Because these feelings, with acute pain pierce the heart, it is impossible to experience them, it is unbearable to be in them. Very often, parents use guilt and shame as a tool in the educational process. It's a shame when a parent has only this way to influence the child. Then these feelings go out of the category of ordinary experiences necessary for any person. Become a whip, a way to control a little person, the only way to influence.“Mom will be offended by you if you don't put away the toys” - such a phrase becomes an ordinary tool for manipulating a little man. In short, the main message of my mother is: "I will stop loving you if you do not do as I say." And of course, the child is scared to receive the rejection of his mother, he is not ready to be so rejected by the person on whom his life depends at the moment. Any child learns to interact with the world through the first contact, contact with their loved ones (significant environment, as a rule, these are his parents).
What does the child learn in this situation? The fact that his feelings and desires are unimportant, there is a fear that makes him act. Act as others expect from him. Very often in my practice, I come across a situation where an already matured person is "mired in self-control," under the control of his thoughts, feelings and bodily manifestations. Thinking "bad", feeling "embarrassed", crying "ashamed." At the same time, all this is alive and present, all natural manifestations are torn out, and are faced with social stereotypes "men should not cry", expectations of loved ones "he / she is a strong person, and he will cope with everything. "
The likelihood that a child who grew up in a situation where he was being ruled by resentment will try to control his partner in the same way (through resentment) is very high. He will control himself, suppress his naturalness, so that in no case does he cause anger and resentment of other people important to him.
Many-sided control
You can talk a lot about the manifestations of control. At the same time, there can be many examples of its manifestation in various situations. For ease of understanding, the forms of controlling behavior can be divided into two categories. Control from above and control from below.Control "from above"
1. - accusation ("you never", "you always").
2. - salvation, help, hyper-care, guidance, advice.
3. - requirements, the question "Why don't you?" - this puts the person in a defensive position.
4. - leaving (from the room or home).
5. - use of money / bribery.
6. - flattery, giving gifts with subtext, hinting at something.
Control "from below"
1. - to say “I don't know”, not to answer questions, behind this there is an unwillingness to take responsibility for your life.
2. - wait for overly detailed instructions from other people.
3. - control through resentment.
4. - be in the "Victims" position.
5. - it is hard to sigh and not speak / ask directly.
6. - be weak / childish / dependent.
It is quite obvious that both methods make it possible to maintain power over the situation. The payment for power can be very different. We can get very tired, be dissatisfied because other people do not want to do the way we "about ourselves" decided that they should do. Indignation, anger, powerlessness are the eternal companions of those who are trying to control not their own, but someone else's life.
Ways to Cope with Control
Such methods are suggested in his book "Liberation from the Trap of Codependency" by J. And B. Wanhold.1. Before starting help, make sure that you really need it. An appropriate question would be “What do you want from me?” Addressed to your partner.
2. Let go of the habit of thinking that others are helpless and cannot cope without you. Bear your responsibility, and do not interfere with carrying it to another. “I know that you can solve this difficulty. Do you want to discuss this in detail? "
3. Offer support to people who feel helpless to reach their own potential. "Think about possible ways to solve the problem, and then we will discuss with you."
4. Don't do more than half of the work on a problem or assignment. Make an agreement with your partner that he will do at least half of the work. "I can do this, but what are you ready to do?"
5. Be attentive to your feelings, do not do what you really do not want. Be honest with yourself: "I don't want to do this."
6. Avoid behavior that puts the aas in a position of superiority (do not give advice without asking for it, do not interrupt the speaker).
7. Give up the role of the victim (in 100% of cases, ask for what you want, do not remain silent).