Audio Version (09:50)
Have you ever looked at someone’s relationship with their manager or co-worker and thought, “Why are they still putting up with that? Why don’t they just leave?”
Maybe their manager monitors their every move, criticises them in front of colleagues or makes them feel guilty for leaving on time. Perhaps they’re excluded from meetings, given impossible deadlines or threatened with consequences if they speak up. Yet despite the effect it’s having on them, they still haven’t handed in their notice.
From the outside, leaving can look like the obvious answer. But when someone has been controlled for months or even years, the question isn’t simply, “Do I want to go?” It’s also, “What will happen if I do?”
Let’s look at what coercive control actually does to a person, and why leaving can be far more complicated than it appears. In the extended YouTube version, I also discuss coercive control in personal and family relationships. Click here to watch:
