This post explores how manipulative people can take advantage of mental health discussions and therapy terms to get people to pity them or excuse their immoral behavior.

Mindset might be everything, but an unhealthy mindset can be veiled under a veneer of good intentions. In 2023, many people are familiar with therapy terms as vulnerability becomes normalized for both sexes and therapy becomes rightfully less stigmatized. While this can facilitate a healthy and unrestricted flow of communication, it also opens up the possibility for people to regurgitate what they hear and reformulate it for their own agendas. This has led to the overuse and weaponization of mental health conversations by manipulative individuals.

Mental Health Can Be Weaponized

In Western society it’s currently far less stigmatizing to talk about mental health struggles than in decades past. However, that doesn’t make it easy, nor does it mean that people won’t be taken advantage of if they open up. Seeking therapy is a natural and healthy response to wanting to understand oneself and one’s position in the world, while it’s also useful for learning new coping strategies and unlearning unproductive mindsets. Despite this, some people will take advantage of one’s mental health voyage and use their advances against them. They will call people “crazy” and try to discredit their narratives due to the stigmas mental health is still working to shed. However, this is only part of the picture when it comes to people using mental health for manipulation.

On the other hand, people might weaponize mental health by using it as a justification for their actions. For example, someone could commit an immoral act such as being abusive but blame it on the anxiety caused by their unstable childhood. When people start using real or imagined mental health issues as justification for immoral behavior, they are attempting to manipulate others in their favor. After all, how can someone be mad at them if they have so many problems? Isn’t it wrong to lash out at someone who is mentally unwell? Unfortunately, kind-hearted people are vulnerable to this type of slimy manipulation, as they couldn’t imagine people twisting such serious issues for personal gain. Furthermore, most people don’t like to kick others when they’re down.

Here is the truth: you can have sympathy for someone’s struggles but also not excuse their behavior. Mental health issues might help explain why someone behaves the way they do, but this is not a justification for acting out. Just because someone has an issue or claims to have one doesn’t mean they have a free pass to behave badly. For example, generational abuse is a devastating cycle. It’s heartbreaking if someone is abusive because they were raised in an abusive environment. However, this is not enough reason to continue to allow this person to be around you. You can understand someone without forgiving them and you can forgive someone without accepting them back into your life.

How Are Therapy Terms Weaponized?

Now we move on to part two of manipulation, which is also performed through langugae. Therapy is a tool used to better understand life and how to navigate it. Embarking on therapy with the right mental health professional can allow people to understand more about themselves, including numerous terms that are used to describe one’s emotions and viewpoints. Developing healthy dialogue with oneself and others is paramount for fruitful adult relationships. However, manipulative people can figure out how to sway conversations in their favor by overusing keywords surrounding mental health to create confusion and uncertainty that helps to paint them as the innocent party.

Recently, many buzzwords are being exhausted thanks to social media popularizing them. Unfortunately, this has caused meaning to be misconstrued and the impact of such words to be greatly reduced. Examples include “gaslighting” and “narcissist.” Someone who wants to use these words to manipulate someone else can learn therapy terms and then spring them up to combat criticism. For example, if someone is calling out their partner for a lie, their partner can accuse them of being a gaslighter who creates a false reality. This can cause confusion and make the person who started the conversation feel less certain in their convictions, as they are now being accused of wrongdoing.

In this scenario, it’s important to weed abusers and manipulators out from people who are chronically online and have become saturated in pseudo-psychology and buzz terms. So here is a simply rule of thumb. Healthy, well-adjusted people will admit their faults and hear your point of view. These people will have open discussions and work on solutions. Abusers and manipulators will swing things back around to avoid blame and accountability. If conversations are constantly being swayed by colorful dialogue so that you are made to feel guilty when you are trying to bring up something that bothers you, then it’s time to re-examine your relationship. This is not a healthy or fruitful dynamic.

Proceed With Caution

While not all people are hellbent on manipulation, the truth is that manipulators are often very good at what they do. They look just like you and me and they are often very outgoing and charming individuals. These people actively seek out vulnerabilities and take advantage of other people to use their kindness and sensitivity against them. However, it is this vulnerability that makes us human. Therefore, there are ways to combat manipulators without becoming hardened.

Our monsters walk among us and they don’t announce themselves; that is why we have to be careful. But rather than live your life on high alert, it is simply necessary to be more cautious. A good rule of thumb is to not share too much personal information with new people up front, as they can always use this against you in an argument or even a legal situation. Mental health is nothing to be ashamed of, but don’t allow untrustworthy people access to your innermost thoughts and secrets.

Lastly, make sure that you’re not overusing mental health terms or wielding such vocabulary as a tool to further your own agenda. The devastation of abuse cannot be underscored enough, but not everyone is a toxic, manipulating gaslighter. People are entitled to their opinions, beliefs, and privacy, and we don’ have to walk around labeling everyone who doesn’t conform to our way of life.

Continued Reading: Anything Can Be Weaponized In Relationships