Passive-aggressive behavior is a pattern of indirectly expressing negative feelings instead of openly addressing them. There's a disconnect between what a person who exhibits passive-aggressive behavior says and their actions. My therapist helped me understand that passive aggressive behavior is just aggression with a smile. This shit is confusing af and affects the way you navigate relationships. It makes it harder to trust in others and alters your grip on reality. I was raised by an extremely passive aggressive mother, so I’ve been very sensitive to this all my life. I’ve encountered it in the workplace and personal relationships. I realized my go-to responses have been to either fight, throw back the sarcasm, or shut down completely. Speaking up in when faced with this still makes me uncomfortable, but I’m also learning to process it. I have to be careful in the way I talk to myself while analyzing it because it’s very easy to gaslight myself when I’ve been told I’m way too sensitive from a young age. It’s also highly dependent on the person dishing it. Sometimes, it’s a surprising one off comment from a friend, so I take a step back and think about where they may be coming from. Maybe I triggered something in them? Maybe they’re having a bad day? Sometimes, it’s from a person malingering as a supporter, and it takes me a while to realize that it has become a pattern. The thing is, once I see the pattern, I can’t un-see it and I can’t continue to take it. At that point, I make peace with where the relationship is and either adjust my expectations or stop participating all together. 👋🏾 Can you think of a time when you displayed passive aggression? How do you deal with passive aggressive behavior?