What to Do When You're Insulted and Humiliated: Sigmund Freud's Powerful Trick to Disarm People

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We often don't know what to do when we are insulted and humiliated, and Sigmund Freud had a great solution to this problem.

It is impossible to insure each of us from the grievances and negativity of other people, but what we can change is our perception.

Sigmund Freud said: "A strong personality never takes on the burden of other people's statements."

Someone's bad word, unpleasant look or inappropriate behavior can affect us so much that we think about it for days. Then we wonder to the point of exhaustion whether we made a mistake somewhere, whether we did the right thing, why this or that person is angry with us, etc. All these thoughts dramatically undermine our self-confidence, and often this happens without any real reason.

“If a person is not treated rudely, has no problems and everyone loves him, most likely he is simply not alive,” said Freud.

In fact, there are no two identical people in the world, and Freud was able to say that if a person is not rude and is always unperturbed, if he has no problems, and is loved by everyone, most likely, this person is dead. And this is true. We all get angry, get into conflicts with loved ones with whom we get along well, and this is normal.

We accept constructive criticism from a loved one we trust, but insults in communication can be poisonous arrows. The person insulting you has only one mission - to hurt you. And remember, these insults say the most about the person who says them.

There are two things that will help you to resist all insults and inappropriate behavior.

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1. The magic word is "yes"

Although this may sound strange to you, do not enter into discussions with relatives and conflict-prone individuals who are prone to manipulation.

One of the iconic phrases with which Freud aptly responded to a journalist's question about whether he considered himself immoral: "Yes," and continued: "As for any tricky question you have about my personality, answer in the affirmative."

Say "YES" to any statement with a calm face. The power of a calm "yes" can dissolve any psychological pressure, because you simply deprive a person of the opportunity to hurt you with something and do not defend yourself by proving the opposite, but simply devalue each of his attacks, depriving the enemy of his goal.

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2. Self-esteem

To protect yourself from insults, it is important to develop a sense of self-worth. Do not let your world depend on external judgment and other people's opinions. Healthy self-esteem is an assessment of yourself, and the opinion of others is an evaluative judgment, often superficial and not pursuing the best goals. Most often, people evaluate and judge other people in order to belittle them and show themselves in a more favorable light.

There is a famous phrase by Freud about the influence that people around us have on us:

"Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, make sure you're not surrounded by idiots."

If none of this helps, just try to communicate less with people you don't like and protect yourself that way.

Remember, life is too short to waste it on toxic people - don't forget that!

What do you think about this? What are your methods for dealing with other people's opinions and criticism? Share in the comments!