Delete and Forget: How to Stop Thinking About Manipulators and Other Toxic People

A guide that will help you get rid of exhausting thoughts about difficult people. 7 techniques will help you "delete" a toxic person from your mind and restore your peace of mind. Based on modern scientifically proven knowledge about the brain – from a Japanese neurosurgeon with 30 years of experience.

"Doctor, even the thought of him makes me feel bad…", "My mom constantly says that I am not raising my children properly", "Whatever I say – in my wife's eyes, I am always a failure". Communicating with a difficult person – and even thoughts about them, for example after a breakup – cause real physical symptoms: headaches, insomnia, anxiety, digestive problems. And the endless inner dialogue that is exhausting. The author explains that the brain perceives such people as a threat: the amygdala triggers the "emergency alarm" – and the body gets stuck in chronic stress. And attempts to "not think" only intensify obsessive thoughts and suffering.

Instead of fighting, neurosurgeon Mitihito Sugawara offers another way: to reduce the significance of memories for the brain and turn them from anxious into neutral. For this, there are 7 scientifically grounded techniques – from the "movie technique" to reframing. This will help you stop thinking about a person at least in those moments when they are not around, which is very liberating.

You will learn how the brain turns a "hated" person (or someone you can't get along with) into an "important" one. What to do if this is someone you have to communicate with constantly – a critical parent, a curious friend, a rude boss, a brazen subordinate, a perpetually dissatisfied husband or wife. And how to protect yourself from manipulation. This book is about how to be when breaking off relationships and "just not communicating" (divorcing, moving, quitting) is not an option. You can significantly reduce the impact of a toxic person on your brain by relying on scientific advancements – through control over the amygdala and reprogramming neural responses.