signs of toxic people

Signs of Toxic People: 5 Tell-Tale Indicators

‘Want to know the signs of toxic people before you mistakenly interact with them and get burned? These are the sure-fire signs that every target of bullying should look for.

signs of toxic people

Dealing with toxic people can be a real buzz-kill for even those who aren’t necessarily objects of bullying and bullies are toxic people. So, know what signs to look for and you automatically avoid bullies. As one who has endured bullying in the past, I’m giving you the top signs of toxic people you must be on the lookout for.

You are going to learn about all the signs of toxic people, from backhanded comments, to dirty looks and more.

After learning about all this red flags, you are going to know what to watch out for and be better able to avoid associating with the wrong people.

This post is all about the signs of toxic people that you need to know.

signs of toxic people

1. They give off bad energy.

If you are around toxic people, you’ll feel it in your body if you pay attention. You’ll feel that alarm bells going off in your gut. Therefore, never mistake this as paranoia because it isn’t.

At times in your life, certain people will give you this gut feeling and you won’t be able to explain the  feeling you get. The only way you will be able to describe it is that something is “off” about the people you’re around.

You will also get that sinking, creepy feeling in the pit of your stomach and literally feel the bad vibes just oozing off these people. However, you must understand that God gave us all this instinct.

Additionally, there are other names for this as well. Some call it your“sixth sense” or your “intuition.” Again, you aren’t being overly suspicious or uptight. And you’re not over-reacting. You are picking up on a person’s energy.

It’s only your inner alarm warning you and trying to keep you safe. In your head, that inner voice might admonish you and tell you, “Aw, C’mon! You don’t know that person. At least give them a chance. But your gut overrules your head ninety-nine percent of the time.

Don’t ignore it! It could save you a truckload of pain down the road.

if you ignore your gut feeling for too long, you will become blind to it!

If you ignore this feeling long enough, you will eventually become blind to the terrible vibes and energy bad people exude. ‘You see, the ability to pick up on vibrations and energy is like your muscles. It must be exercised to become stronger. In other words, if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it!

Your God-given gut instincts are the last things that you want to atrophy. In this mixed-up world, you cannot afford for these things to weaken.

Therefore, you must trust your gut. Especially if you are a target of bullying. Never allow others to convince you that you’re “being overly suspicious of people” or that it’s all in your mind. Never listen when they tell you that you’re nuts for following your intuition.

If ever you pick up bad energy from the people around you, you must get away from those people, if possible. And don’t walk. Run!

So, trust your gut, it might even save your life!

2. Signs of Toxic People:

They’re fake.

The signs of toxic people also include fakery, and fake people aren’t healthy people. Also, chances are good that they are toxic. Think about it. If they don’t like themselves enough to be for real, it’s a pretty good bet they won’t like many other  people either, including you.

Moreover, they’ll try to bring you down to build themselves up.

You’ll notice the fake right off if you look close enough and know what to look for. In the lunch line or the local restaurant, you’ll notice the guy who’s wearing the flashy, designer clothes and see him pull out a cheap, fifteen-dollar wallet to pay for his meal.

Then, you’ll know this guy is a poser.

Or you might see the girls in the school in-clique wear their high-fashion clothes and the name “GUCCI” on their handbags. But a closer look will reveal that the purses hanging off their shoulders are only cheap, knock-offs. Anyone with an eye for detail will notice it by the stitching patterns and thread counts.

When you see this, you’ll instantly know these girls are fake.

Moreover, these kinds of people try to look like they’re rolling in money in order to impress others. This screams insecurity and you should put some distance between yourself and these types.

Why? Because insecure people will try to make you feel bad to make themselves feel better. They’ll bully you for being yourself and try to act as if they’re better than you and most bullies are highly insecure people.

posers can also be fake in their actions.

Posers may or may not wear flashy clothes to impress. There are those who act fake. They may act tough but only turn out to be sniveling little cowards.

For instance, you’ll notice the big tough guy at school always beating up on those who are much smaller than he is. However, he’ll never go toe to toe with anyone of his equal.

He could be the skinny, buck-toothed, thick-eyeglasses-wearing HR nerd who uses his manager position and college degree to psychologically bully the employees under him.

Also, the posing bully could be a vindictive, domineering office woman who brags about her awesome family or quotes Bible scriptures.

They could be the fake friend who is forever stabbing you in the back.

Or, she could be the girl who acts shy and innocent but is really a lying, manipulative little vixen.

Avoid these kinds of people as well. Otherwise, they’ll only use you as a doormat to feel good about themselves or they’ll manipulate you to get what they want from you.

3. the signs of toxic people also include Gaslighting and invalidating others.

These types of people seem to find everything wrong with you and nothing wrong in themselves. Also, they never have anything positive to say.

Gaslighters and invalidators are the type of people that don’t mind dumping on you and making you feel like crap. However, when you call them out on their abuses and manipulation, they’ll invalidate your feelings and punish you for having them.

They will make statements, such as,

“You’re being too sensitive.”

“You’re making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Or

“You’re bonkers.”

All the while, you know that you’re not.

What’s worse is this person will often put on a gleaming façade of perfection while throwing stones at you and anyone who “rubs them the wrong way.”

They hide their own shortcomings and project them onto you to use you as a distraction from their sins.

But know this. Only you alone know your inner reality. It’s impossible for anyone besides God to be privy to that kind of information.

If someone tells you how you feel, or how you should feel, they claim to know the unknowable. Their unspoken message is that you don’t have a right to feel the way you do.

No one has the right to do that to you. No one! Tell them to take a hike. And if you see them coming, don’t walk, run! These kinds of people aren’t the least healthy to be around!

4. Signs of Toxic People:

Gossiping and Backstabbing.

If you have friends who talk smack about their other friends to you, then you can bet they’re running their mouths about you to the same friends when you’re not around to hear it.

Moreover, there are also nosy people who are never short of personal and intimate questions about your private life. And those in school or at work who never shut up and always seem to know your business before you do.

Understand that these people are toxic and are bullies too. Their consistent gossip, butting-in, and having a nose stuck in your life is a form of attempted control.

Bullies will often ask you very intimate questions to embarrass or humiliate you. Therefore, anybody who openly asks you such questions has no respect for your privacy.

Therefore,  never answer their questions and be very careful what you share. Information you should always keep to yourself are:

1. Whether or not one of your family members has a drug addiction.

2. Any legal issues.

3. Divorce or child custody issues.

4. Any medical conditions

5. Your sex life, or lack of.

Do not divulge anything that is private!

Anytime people ask you questions about any of the above, don’t walk, RUN! These idiots are never to be trusted. In fact, they aren’t worth knowing. Deal with them accordingly and take out the trash.

5. They Love Drama.

These types are always whining, complaining, and always seem to be in a jam. They will blame you and others for their bad circumstances because it’s never their fault. Right?

Also, they are notorious gossips and you’ll often hear them bellyaching when they have to do any work.

Stay away from this person because they’ll dog your mood and be a drag to be around.

Moreover these drama-lovers live to sow discord and division among others. They work as double agents. In other words, they go back and forth between two quarreling people, telling each person what the other said about them just to get them riled up.

Then, when the two quarrelers finally come to blows, these people will then stand back and watch with glee as the two duke it out.

Give these chumps the old heave-ho. Fast!

Finally, learn how to avoid fake friendships. Do all these things and you’ll keep yourself safe from nefarious actors.

This post was all about the signs of toxic people to help you easily spot them and avoid them for your own peace of mind.

Related posts you’ll enjoy:

1. 25 Signs of a Toxic Person

2. People with Negative Energy: How to Protect Yourself from Them

3. Fake Friends: 13 Surefire Signs They Don’t Like You for You

4. 10 Signs of a Toxic Friendship (And How to Cut Ties)

important facts about bullying

Important Facts About Bullying: 3 Truths You Must Learn

Would You like to know the Most Important facts about bullying? Remembering these truths will help you gather the courage you need to stand up to your bullies and bravely defend yourself against them.

important facts about bullying

There are 3 most important facts about bullying that you must learn if you want the courage to stand up to your bullies.  This can be very difficult, if not terrifying. However, it is an absolute must if you don’t want to waste years tiptoeing around your bullies only for them to keep coming back for you.  These essential truths are those I had to realize before I could muster the courage to stand up to my bullies and finally put a stop to the years-long nightmare I was living in.

Therefore, as a former target and eventual overcomer of bullying myself, I am writing this post to give you the 3 most important facts you must remember about bullies.

Once you learn these truths and keep them in the back of your mind, you will then be well prepared and able to stand your ground and defend yourself much more effectively.

This post is all about the 3 most important facts about bullying, which are truths that every victim of bullying should know.

Here are 3 Important facts about bullying:

1. You can never appease a bully.

Never! No matter what you do to satisfy the bullies and no matter how many times you tell them what they want to hear. You may submit to them and yes, they may go away and leave you alone for the time being. However, understand that the small reprieve bullies give you will always, ALWAYS… be very short lived.

It is because your submission has always worked and given your bullies what they want from you. In your submission, whether it’s telling the bullies what they want to hear, letting them cheat off you during an exam, or allowing them to take credit for your idea, you are rewarding their behavior.

Therefore, anytime bullies get rewards from bullying you, they will always come back for more. And the same goes whether you endure bullying in school, the workplace, or in your community.

Also, your bullies get instant psychological rewards just from your having to constantly creep and tiptoe around them. Why? Because it gives them a sense of power and domination. Realize that bullies are all about power… raw power! And they will never give that up. Not without a fight!

You can never submit your way out of being abused.

I cannot stress this enough. Again, you can never appease a bully. Any attempts to do so will only do the opposite of what you want. Trying to appease a bully only makes you appear weak to them. It then emboldens them to come back for more later because it is the very thing that has been working for them all along!

Consequently, you will spend years jumping through hoops and wondering when your bullies will be back in your face again. This is no way to live, and life is too short to waste one second being an emotional slave to someone else.

You must understand that eventually, you will need to take a hard stand before they will finally leave you alone for good. The last thing you want is to spend the rest of your life being someone else’s doormat.

there’s a reason why this is number one of the most important facts about bullying.

In other words, the only way to permanently deter your bullies is to get tired of it and confront them head-on when they come for you. Speak out against them, to their faces, if need be, and when you say what you must say to them, say it bluntly and mean it! Then, if they respond with physical threats and violence, be ready to hit back and defend yourself.

Sometimes it takes a final showdown before your bullies will finally give you the respect you deserve and go find another target to bully. Think of the movie “Tombstone.”

A band of bullies had terrorized an entire boom town and, in the process, killed one Earp brother and wounded another. Afterwards, Wyatt Earp and his buddies made their final stand, hunting down each member of the Cowboys gang and all but eradicating them, which caused them to eventually disband.

This is not to say that you should go hunt your bullies down, but you get the point.

2. The Second of the most Important Facts About Bullying is That Bullies thrive on your fear of retaliation and further harm.

Know that your fear of retaliation and suffering further harm is understandable because it is a natural human response to danger. So, in no way am I blaming you for it.

However, you must realize that your bullies thrive on your perfectly normal fear response, and they will exploit it every chance they get! And why not?

Your fear has thus far gotten them what they want from you. It has rewarded your bullies both psychologically and, more than likely, materially. So, why would they stop now or ever for that matter?

Understand that rewards feel good! And if it feels good, humans want more and more of it! So, again, why would your bullies stop trying to get more of it? Moreover, why would they stop doing the very things to you that they’ve been doing that have, time and time again, proved to be successful?

Human nature only dictates that your bullies will always come back for more rewards! And they will return to the source of the rewards (you) and repeat the same methods by which they have been successful in attaining these rewards.

And if they have to gaslight you to keep getting rewarded, they will.

For example, if a prospector finds a goldmine loaded with gold and there’s nothing to stop him from stealing it, he’s not going to stop mining for it just because there’s more gold in it than he can carry. No. He’s going to return to the mine later to get more gold. Consequently, if there’s no barrier to stop him, he will keep going back for more until there’s no more gold left in the mine.

if there’s more free gold in the mine, why not go back for it?

People are greedy like that, and bullies are no exception to this rule when it comes to power. You are the goldmine, and your personal power is the gold the bullies keep coming for more and more of. And, each time they return, they will chip away more and more of your self-esteem to get that gold.

Therefore, the trick here is to stop supplying “the gold.” Stop rewarding their behavior and set boundaries! Remember that mine owners usually had armed guards posted to keep it from being robbed by greedy prospectors. The guards are the boundaries for the mine. They protect the mine by keeping the robbers out.

Also, nations have boundaries to keep out foreign invaders. And people should have them as well to ward off others who would otherwise use and abuse them.

In most cases, realizing these truths will make you angry. Then, you will grow so sick of being crapped on that you get angry with yourself for having allowed them to abuse you for so long. Also, you will reach the point where you stop caring how the bullies respond.

In other words, you will be willing to face the possibility of getting beat within an inch of your life, but you won’t care anymore. Damn the consequences!

Your attitude will be, “They may whip me, but I’ll go down swinging and get a few good licks in! I’ll leave a few marks on them and they’ll know I’ve been there!”

You will be so furious that you’ll flatly refuse to live in fear any longer, come what may.

3. Bullies only understand strength and power. They do not understand reason, diplomacy, nor politeness.

You cannot handle bullies with kid gloves. In other words, there are no nice or polite ways to handle them. And you cannot be afraid to set boundaries. Bullies only see niceties, pleasantries, and politeness as weaknesses to exploit and manipulate.

Also, you can never reason with bullies. Bullies only perceive any form of diplomacy and reasoning to be signs of weakness or worse, ploys to manipulate them.

Therefore, you must communicate with your bullies in the only language they understand. You must meet them exactly where they are. When you set your boundaries, you must do it firmly and bluntly. And mean it!

You cannot just set boundaries and expect your bullies to respect them. You must also enforce those boundaries with consequences because bullies will see this as a challenge. And you can best believe they will rise to that challenge.

In other words, they will violate your newly established boundaries just to dare you and to prove to you that they can. And when you do, make sure that the consequences are severe enough to make them stop! The consequences must be so severe that your bullies won’t even want to look in your direction again, much less mess with you.

In short, you earn respect!

You must speak from a position of power and strength.

To put it figuratively, unleash hellfire and put the fear of God in them! Think Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the Pearl Harbor attack. Japan never attacked us again afterwards. We eventually won their respect, and they became one of our closest friends. And we continue to be friends with Japan today.

Here it is, in a nutshell. When you’re dealing with bullies, it’s either put up or shut up.

Again, you must realize these truths before you reach your limit and decide to finish it once and for all. Also, the bullying you suffer may get worse before it gets better. Why? Because bullies always fight the hardest when they know they’re losing their power over you.

Therefore, don’t give up. Stick to your guns. And know that eventually, after you severely school, beat, and humiliate your bullies enough times, they will eventually get the message, give up and go find another chump to jerk around.

With knowledge comes empowerment!

This post was all about the most Important facts about bullying. knowing these truths will help you be more knowledgeable so that you don’t waste any more time spinning your wheels for nothing.

Related posts you’ll enjoy:

1. The Psychology of Bullying: 7 Things that Motivate People to Bully

2. Fear of Setting Boundaries: 5 Reasons You Don’t Stand Up to Bullies

3. Bullying and Gaslighting: 7 Ways Bullies Gaslight Victims

4. Facts About Respect: 9 Time-Tested Truths You Must Know

reasons why people bully

Reasons Why People Bully – 7 Most Common Motives

Are you a victim of bullying who has been desperately trying to figure out the reasons why people bully? The first step to overcoming bullying is to know your enemy. Listed below are the 7 most common reasons.

reasons why people bully

Bullies are unpredictable and if people are bullying you, you probably don’t understand the reasons why people bully. As someone who has experienced bullying and has researched it for several years. I’m giving you the answers you’ve been looking for.

Therefore, you will learn the most common reasons why people bully, whether it’s insecurity, or jealousy, or other motives.

After learning about all of these most common reasons, you will be able to better prepare yourself for the next time your bullies approach you.

This post is all about the most common reasons why people bully that every victim should know.

Most Common Reasons Why People Bully:

1. the desire for Power.

Bullying is all about power, domination, and control. Bullies get a massive rush of power at your expense. Moreover, power is addictive. It is like a drug and bullies can never get enough of it. To bullies, bullying is an aphrodisiac, it feels good to them.

You must understand that targeting others to attack and harm is how some people find meaning in their lives. And the power they get through their meaningless lives is in the mistreatment of their victims. Simply put, bullies bully because they enjoy it!

People crave power, fame, notoriety, and influence, even the best of them. But most people can get those through love and through their hobbies, jobs, talent, and creativity. Bullies, on the other hand, don’t have these things going for them. Some might have jobs but aren’t satisfied in their positions. So, they abuse people to gain the desires they can’t gain any other way.

Without victims Bullies Have No Power

Again, bullies either can’t get those benefits any other way, or they can’t get enough of them. So, for them, destroying the lives of their targets is the only power they have.

Moreover, once their victim is no longer available to them because he’s either quit, moved, or died by suicide, the bullies’ drug isn’t there anymore. Therefore, they search for another target to get their next fix because bullies need authority over somebody, anybody.

Understand that this “fix” always wears off, and it wears off quickly. Bullies consistently need another dose, and another and another. If they cannot find another easy target, preferably someone outside their peer group, they will eat their own. In other words, they will turn on one of their friends in their social circle and target them.

Here’s another thing to think about. Bullies usually pick jobs that give them power and a title. They usually aspire to become politicians, teachers, correctional officers, police officers, supervisors, managers, and the like.

2. The most common Reasons Why People Bully include The Need for a Scapegoat

Many bullies need a scapegoat to unload all their own insecurities on. In other words, they need someone to blame for their own faults and to take all their hurts, anger, and frustrations out on. Always remember this. Bullies need victims because they need scapegoats.

Moreover, the use of a scapegoat is nothing new. People have used them for many millennia!

The idea of a scapegoat comes from the Old Testament of the Bible. People gave burnt offerings to cleanse themselves of sin and they would sacrifice a lamb and burn it.

So, when bullies scapegoat their victims, they use the victim as a sacrificial lamb to project all their wrongdoings and imperfections on. Understand that bullies need targets to blame their stupidity and bad behavior on.

Here’s another example:

During the Medieval Period, scapegoats were used by kings to make sure the monarch’s hands stayed clean- or, more appropriately, looked clean.

Back then, it was common practice to blame and execute scapegoats for the wrongdoings of kings. Blaming them, then putting them to death kept the scapegoats quiet and the kings unquestioned, above reproach, and looking good. Bullies do the same today, only in different ways.

Furthermore, bullying and scapegoating go hand in hand. The purpose of scapegoating is for bullies to project blame and continue to appear as good, upstanding people.

Put simpler, bullies force another person to accept blame for sins of which they, themselves, are guilty so that they can go on living in blissful denial. Sadly, the person blamed is often innocent, has the least power, and is least likely to fight back. The person is then punished and sacrificed.

Remember that bullies are cowards. If you’re a victim or target of bullying, this is a way bullies can avoid any accountability and live in the safely of denial while continuing their evil deeds, causing harm to others.

3. The Desire for Social Status.

The reasons why people bully often include the desire for social status. And usually, it works like a charm. The reason it works so well is that the social status of the bully skyrockets, while that of the target plummets.

For many people, having the respect and admiration of their peers is of more value to their sense of self-worth than money and material wealth. Although one can achieve elevated social status through wealth and material things, it can also be attainable though bullying if the bully doesn’t have those things.

Bullies who are poor will often bully you out of insecurity and the social status they achieve from it is compensation for the money and material things they don’t have. On the other hand, if the bully does have money and material wealth, the social status he gets from bullying is just icing on the cake.

Some places have a culture of bullying. Moreover, in that kind of environment, bullying is the status quo. Therefore, people will join in because they know it’s expected of them.

Bullies Who are Poor are Known for These Tactics

However, most bullies aren’t affluent. Therefore, the only way they can achieve social status is by demeaning others and exploiting their mistakes, flaws, and shortcomings. In other words, bullies will take the tiniest mistake, add to it, and make it bigger.

In short, they increase their social ranking by decreasing yours.

But remember this. Bullying is not a healthy way to move up the social hierarchy. A healthy way of increasing one’s social ranking requires some type of achievement, such as joining a positive movement or donating to a charity.

Sadly, the world is, by default, quick to blame a person for any negative qualities or actions while slow to forgive or to give credit for good deeds. Bullies instinctively know this and take full advantage of it.

However, again, you must understand that people who rely on their ability to bully others out of existence to achieve social gain can never achieve it any other way. It’s the only way these bullies can have power.

4. Group Cohesion and Unity Are One of The Reasons Why People Bully

It’s no secret that bullies usually bully in packs.

Therefore, bullies garner support from others who are just like them and who share the same values and opinions. After all, bullying is most effective in group situations, where people unite to serve a certain objective. Bullies never work alone. They always have backers.

There is strength in numbers. Group bullying not only gives talentless bullies a sense of belonging, but it also tightens the bonds among members of the group.

Furthermore, this collective bullying gives them more anonymity. Also, in a group bullies are more successful in bringing the target down than if the bullies worked alone.

This usually requires that the bullying group have a hated enemy (you) that they can unite against.

In Robert Greene’s book entitled, “The Laws of Human Nature,” I once read that everyone needs a hated enemy and that there’s a positive side to having one. I’ve found that with packs of bullies, this is true.

Bullies in groups need an enemy, whether real or imagined, that they can band together and fight against. They need an “us-versus-them” object. Why? Because the presence of an enemy has always served to strengthen group cohesion and unite and tighten members. Groups reflexively focus on their hated target as a means for further solidarity.

You, the victim provide the bullies the assurance that their group always stays together as one. Without you as their victim, their group is weak and things get boring fast.

Therefore, once you leave the scene and move on to a better environment, it won’t be long before they split up and go their separate ways.

However, know this. These types of people are the talentless, the lazy, the insignificant, and the incompetent. They have no redeemable qualities, no personalities, and no real intelligence.

You must see these bullies exactly as they are- empty suits with zero substance. And, once you see them clearly, your confidence won’t take such a big hit when they come for you.

5. To Seek Attention.

Bullies will bully just to get attention. They not only want attention from you, but more than likely, they want attention from bystanders.

In other words, by making you look small, the bully makes themselves look big in the eyes of bystanders who don’t know any better. This goes back to number 3, The Desire for Social Status.

But realize that this is the only way the bully can get the attention he craves. It’s really pathetic when you think about it. This realization alone should give you a confidence boost because you don’t have to resort to such behavior to get attention.

6. one of the common reasons why people bully is also One-Upmanship

One-upmanship is another one of the most common reasons why people bully.

Bullies can’t handle the successes of anyone, especially if it’s achieved by anyone they deem inferior. Realize that a bully’s feelings of power and superiority come by one-upping you, their victim.

Therefore, anytime you succeed at anything, it will undermine your bullies’ sense of superiority.

Realize that your bullies need to be better than you, at everything and when you have a talent you’re exceptional at, it only arouses their jealousy and desire to take you down a few pegs.

So, be prepared for your bullies to look for and find one of your weaknesses and exploit it just to soothe their bruised egos.

Also, look for your bullies will use their social status to one-up you with. Or, if your bullies are athletes and you’re a musician, they may remind you that they’re better at sports than you will ever be.

However, you must know where these tactics come from. Your talents and success are threats to your bullies’ power because they undermine their superiority over you.

7. To Contain Threats.

Bullies always intensify their bullying when you become a threat to them somehow.

For example, you have been bullied by the same people for years and finally decide to break your silence and speak out about it. When you began to call out the bullying and assert your rights not to be abused, you are then a threat to your bullies.

Why? Because you’re exposing their bad deeds before the entire world.

Remember that bullies thrive on the silence of their victims. Once the victim speaks out and provides proof,  the bullies risk exposure. With it, they risk losing face and their social standing in a school, workplace, or community.

Therefore, look for your bullies to use tactics against you, such as lies, gaslighting, smear campaigns, and the like. They may even confront you with an angry tirade.

But realize that your bullies are only operating out of fear and desperation. Fear and desperation renders a person not to think clearly. As a result they end up making foolish mistakes and exposing themselves for who they are.

Also, here’s something else to note. If you aren’t available for them to bully, they may bully someone in their own group until you’re available again.

I’ve seen it happen.

This post was all about the most common reasons why people bully and was written to help you see where the attacks are coming from. seeing behind the behavior helps you better prepare your response so that you can buffer your self-esteem and preserve your confidence.

related posts:

1. Why People Bully: 11 Benefits Bullies Reap at Your Expense

2. Why do Bullies Bully? 7 Reasons They Won’t Leave You Alone

3. Bullying Culture: When Bullying is the Status Quo

4.  Being a Scapegoat: 5 Powerful Ways to Put a Stop to It