emotional predators

A look, a word or a simple hint can be enough to begin a process of destroying the other. The acts carried out by emotional predators are so everyday and progressive that, at times, they seem normal, while the victims remain silent and suffer in silence.

Just as in nature there are animal predators that capture and annihilate other animals for food, in humans we can also observe a similar phenomenon carried out by emotional predators and their victims: moral harassment or psychological abuse. Let’s dig deeper.

What is the emotional predator like?

The emotional predator is distributed among all ages, social statuses, cultures and sex. Apparently they are normal people, almost never leaders. They tend to be stingy, self-centered and narcissistic.

Its objective is the moral, personal, psychological and sociological dismantling of the victims, many of whom may end their lives. Although his specialty is destabilizing, chaining and trapping his victims in a game of mental confusion.

They feel the need to be admired, desired, with an excessive desire for success and power. They present a disconnection with their emotions, which leads them to not experience guilt and deeply despise their victims.

When they are children, they tend to be the typical ones who throw the stone and hide their hand, those who cause fights but who do not get involved in them. They crave the spotlight. In adolescence, they are cold and distant, with little social success, surrounded by one or two friends whom they manipulate. And in adulthood, They are distinguished by being arrogant, manifesting themselves as possessed of truth, reason and justice.

At first glance they seem controlled, sociable and acceptable subjects, but Behind this mask that they build hides a cluster of intentions and unconscious processes. much more complicated and convoluted.

Who are the victims of emotional predators?

The victims are characterized by being kind, honest, generous, optimistic people, with spiritual strength… They are those people who present characteristics that the human predator craves and envies, characteristics that it has not had. They will become a scapegoat responsible for all evils.

An emotional predator seeks out these types of people, to absorb their energy and vitality. That is to say, They want to absorb what they envy.

The victims are suspicious in the eyes of others, since The process of moral harassment occurs in such a way that it causes the victim to be seen as guilty. Often, people imagine or think that they are aware of or complicit, consciously or not, in the attacks they receive. The predator knows very well what strategies to carry out to confuse others.

We often hear it said that if a person is a victim it is because of their weakness or lack; but on the contrary, we can observe that They are chosen for something they have extra, for something that the aggressor wants to appropriate.

The victims may seem naive and gullible, since they do not imagine that the other is basically a destroyer and try to find logical explanations. They begin to justify themselves, trying to be transparent. They understand or forgive because they love or admire, they even consider that they have to help because they are the only ones who fully understand the other. Victims feel that they have a mission to fulfill.

While the emotional predator clings to his own rigidity, the victims try to adapt, trying to understand what their persecutor consciously or unconsciously desires and never stop wondering about their own share of guilt.

The invisible prison of psychological abuse

The invisible trap that emotional predators set in motion is psychological abuse, one of the most common forms of violence. The one in which the control of the other, verbal abuse, threats, contempt and pathological criticism take center stage.

According to the psychoanalyst psychiatrist Marie France Hirigoyen, The main purpose of the emotional predator is to disable the victim in his functions, relegating her, despising her and denying her any type of communication. Which leads to slow mental agony and the development of both physical and psychological disorders.

The process of emotional predation consists of an intrusion into the psychic terrain of the other person slowly, progressively and repeatedly over time. Thus, one of the first moves of emotional predators is to paralyze their victims with the aim of preventing them from being able to defend themselves.

In a subtle and masked way, they take away their freedom and they build the psychological bars necessary to confine them in a total situation of helplessness and devaluation.

Thus, It is very difficult for victims to break away from the situation. They are isolated, without emotional support to turn to, invaded by fear and with a distorted image of themselves.

Getting out of this invisible prison is not easy, since the victims are not the people they were and a restructuring process must be carried out both on an emotional and cognitive level with them. Hence, being aware of what is happening is the first step, as well as identifying psychological abuse and its consequences – those that make them believe they are responsible and guilty for what happened. In this way, they will be able to begin to put their energy into rescuing themselves.

On the other hand, It is important to find a support network to help the victims and to act as their emotional support and, above all, to go to a specialist. Even if the situation requires it, seek the intervention of justice.

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