How do our toxic family members secure our emotional reactions and consume our attention? Manipulation. Our toxic family members may believe inside themselves that they love us, but ultimately, they live through us to use us. They feed off of having the power and authority to manipulate, degrade, and create insecurity, fear, sadness, neediness, guilt, feelings of obligation, hope, and rage in us. This is their fuel. This is what they live on. They use us to keep themselves going.
