I think I could help with this since I lived with an adult bully for about 1.5 which was a horrible experience, but I took it as a major learning lesson and promised myself that I would be a support and advocate for victims. So, here’s what I learned.

Bullies are predators that look for what they think would be the easiest victim. They need to bully because they are extremely insecure, yet the bullying makes them feels superior in their heads. So, know that their weakness is insecurity, and they see a weakness in you. Using this info, you can work on their weakness to show you’re not an easy target by protecting yours, and they won’t get the sense of superiority out of bullying you.

Tips:

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Do not play their game.

• They are the experts on this. Once you recognize someone is trying to bully you, know that they have started to work on you for a while now. Thus, if a bully throws you the ball, don’t throw it back. Put it down. If they start a conversation with you that you don’t want to have, say, “That’s interesting, but I’m focused on something else right now.”

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Have very solid boundaries.

• Know what they are, verbally state them when appropriate, and stick to them 100%. They will search for where they can violate this, then capitalize on it, so do not let one thing slide. You have every right to leave if you feel that someone is being antagonistic or offensive. You can even leave if you feel uncomfortable and want to recollect. If anyone forces you to stay, that’s a major red flag.

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Be grounded in your truth.

• Bullies will try to define reality for you. For example, “It’s not that they are abusive assholes because they’re so insecure; it’s that you are weak and deserve it or they’re just playing.” Nope. That’s their delusion. Stay planted to your reality. It may help to write it down as a reminder for yourself.

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Greyrock. Greyrock. Greyrock.

• That means to have no noticeable emotional reactions to any of their bullying. They feed off of reaction, whether it is good or bad. Do not show that they are affecting you in any sense. This makes them feel insecure, so their strategy of bullying you isn’t working.

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I-statements.

• You can say whatever you want as long as you don’t mention anyone else by name or pronoun. So rather than saying, “You are insulting me.” Say, “I feel uncomfortable right now.” That is 100% acceptable and no one can argue how you feel since it’s generally considered a jerk move. If anyone does argue your feelings, they’re gaslighting you because they’re telling you to trust their reality over yours.

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As adults, they are playing a social game.

• They are trying to paint you as the bad guy, paint themselves as either strong or the victim (depends on the immediate setting, but think of how Trump is always either strong or a victim), isolate you, then creating alliances with others to start bullying you, whether the others know it or not. For me, this is the hardest of the areas to work on, but basically I remember that they are focused on the immediate moment. You need to play the long game. Stay stable and don’t start with gossip, trash talking, or whatever. You need to demonstrate through your behaviors that you are not what the bully is telling everyone else you are. Also, do not believe anything the bully tells you about others. That is a manipulation strategy. For example, they may tell you that, “Person A is such a bully to Person B.” This will trigger your sensitivity, get you to isolate from Person A, and start trusting the bully a little more since they are apparently against bullying. It’s all a game they play. As long as you understand that they are delusional, you can accept to not trust a thing they say, even is many of their statements are littered with half-truths. Remember, everything they say has a manipulative purpose. Eventually, the bully will either get sick of trying to bully you and it not be effective, or they may actually lash out enough for you to take more concrete steps, such as legal, contacting HR, or whatever.

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Do not speak poorly of anyone else.

• They will use this to trash your reputation with them, especially if it is something that other person is vulnerable about. They can prompt it by going, “I don’t mean to be mean, but I’m kind of concerned with Person A’s health…they just look a bit too overweight.” You, trying to relate, respond, “Yeah, they do seem a bit overweight, and they’re not helping themselves eating Chic-Fil-A for lunch. Maybe they don’t know how to eat healthier.” Later on, they go to Person A, “Hey, I want you to know that I am just trying to be a caring person and don’t like any drama, but I thought it was rude what someone told me about you…Lettruhut was talking crap about how you shouldn’t be eating Chic-Fil-A because of your size.” Person A then gets justifiably offended and can even confirm the half-truth by coming up to you and asking, “Hey, do like Chic-Fil-A?” You unconsciously remembering the previous conversation respond, “No, it’s too much for me.” That’s it. You just confirmed what the bully implied.

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Do not share anything personal with the bully.

• If the bully comes up to you and says, “You know, I feel bad about taking home pens from work sometimes. It feels like I’m stealing.” Do not try to console them by being vulnerable, such as, “I don’t think that’s a big deal. One time I really needed just a few staples, so I took some home from the office because I didn’t need a whole box.” In this example, you just admitted to the bully that you steal. The bully will immediately start spreading that info unto others. They may tell a manager, “I’m a bit concerned that Lettruhout is stealing because I saw them taking home office supplies. I’ll show you what I mean at the next meeting by pretending that I’m doing it, you play along, and we can see how they react.” Next meeting comes along, “Hey everyone, I want to know what you guys think…I’m a bit embarrassed about this, but I’ve been taking home pens from the office, and I wanted to know if you think that’s a big deal?” The manager says, “I mean, something so insignificant, that’s fine. If it were a computer, then of course that’s a problem though. What do you think Lettruhut?” You responded, “Oh yeah. One time I took home a few staples. I was really nervous about it, but I’m glad you guys are sensible. I was actually worried that you guys would see it as stealing.” Boom! You just admitted that you stole, while the bully has an alibi for what they told you they stole. When you get punished for it and try to accuse the bully of it, you now look like a liar as well, and no one will believe whatever you say about the bully from there on out. Anyway, as long as you don’t share anything personal with them, they will see that you’re not an easy target and prey around for someone else.

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If you see them bully someone else, become a source of support for them.

• Don’t tell them what you saw, but ask them to tell you how they experienced it and be a supportive sense of validation grounded in reality. This shows them that you are healthy and also that their recollection and interpretation of events are valid.

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Know that as long as you are not dealing with a lethally dangerous psychopath, you have already won.

• You have won because they are playing an antagonistic game based on fantasy. You are living a collaborative life based on reality. Since you are aiming to be collaborative, you limit the amount of antagonism you create. In fact, it is others that create the antagonism which you may fall victim to. However, their entire lives are antagonistic, so they are more likely to mess up and have a longgggg history of terrible relationships and records. Being based on reality, you’ve already won because you share the same world with everyone else while they have to not only manage that information, but also have to develop and coercively disseminate their delusional interpretation of it. You only have to remember facts. They have to remember facts, delusions, lies, and the specific manipulation strategies they use on each individual involved. That means that you have much more mental resources available to focus on the problem than they do.

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If this is a person threatening your safety, then you need to collect evidence and get authorities involved.

• Not only keep track of your interactions, but find a way to mount evidence. What I did with my bully when I was kicking them out of my life (a dangerous moment because they act more intensely since their about to lose their insecurity drug), I would put my phone on record and in my pocket so that I had evidence to share with people if I needed to. While that particular example wouldn’t be admissible in court in my state, I could still share it with police, medical professionals, or lawyers so they know I am being truthful. In retrospect, I could have tricked them into giving me consent by starting the recording in my pocket, then saying, “So if what you’re telling me is right, you wouldn’t care if I recorded it?” They would have to respond, “No.” Then I would go, “So I have your permission to record this?” They would say, “Yes,” assuming you’re not recording, so then you can say, “Ah, never mind. It’s not worth it to go get my camera.” Boom! Just got consent and bonus, they now think you believe their BS even more because you didn’t follow through to get the camera.

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edits: grammar and a quote