Lately, I’ve been discovering common behaviours of Narcissists, Sociopaths And Psychopaths. Keep in mind that those are personality disorders and it’s not a good idea to go around labelling people just because they’re jerks. While I’ve been learning, I found an article by  Shahida Arabi at http://thoughtcatalog.com/shahida-arabi/2016/06/20-diversion-tactics-highly-manipulative-narcissists-sociopaths-and-psychopaths-use-to-silence-you/. Shahida the author of the book She Who Destroys the Light: Fairy Tales Gone Wrong.

I want to highlight a few of the tactics Shadida Arabi includes in her article. Please read the whole article so you can get the full picture.

Toxic people tend to use diversion tactics to escape accountability for their actions and silence you, the target of their abuse. If this is happening to you, I hope you are able to get help and establish healthy boundaries so you may experience hope and healing.

Word Salad

Word salad consists of circular conversations, ad hominem arguments, projection and gaslighting. The toxic person is attempting to ‘discredit, confuse and frustrate you, distract you, and make you feel guilty.’

“Cut the interaction short as soon as you anticipate it escalating and use your energy on some decadent self-care instead.”

I had prepared and schedule this post some weeks back. Then Time magazine published an interview by Michael Scherer with #45. If you have never experienced a toxic person using word salad I believe this is a perfect example. I encourage you to check it out but note that it will likely make your head spin – which is what word salad is meant to do.