Love Bombing: 21 Signs Someone Is Manipulating You to Fall Hard in Love
If you meet someone charming and they start love bombing you, know that it’s a simple form of manipulation. Understanding the signs is vital.
Maybe you’re not caught up with all the hip lingo. Allow us to describe the signs of love bombing for you. Love bombing is a technique used at the beginning of many relationships to make someone fall madly in love with you very quickly.
Essentially, someone who love bombs you showers you with an excess of gifts and romantic gestures. They make you feel like this person must be your soul mate. Then? Surprise. You’re in love with a monster.
Some say that there is nothing wrong with love bombing because it simply shows your partner that you care about them.
It’s the beginning of a new relationship, so naturally they want to “woo” you and make you feel special. But be careful. You might be falling in love with a mask—not the person standing in front of you holding a bouquet of flowers. In that case, it’s nothing but manipulation.
Hang on, what is love bombing?
Love bombing is a tactic that can be both intentional and unintentional. Love bombing is when someone goes above and beyond to woo someone, usually with the intention of making them fall in love really fast.
Many predators use it to find victims on the Internet and reel them in to take advantage. And some others who use this tactic have personality disorders that drive them to gain power and dominance, like a sociopath or narcissist.
The result is the same for the victim. They are left damaged, bottomed out, broken both inside and sometimes out, and with very little self-esteem left.
It is difficult to get out from under someone who uses love like a bomb to keep you manipulated and under their thumb, which is why it is important to see the red flags and not succumb to their manipulation.
If you get that eerie feeling that something isn’t right, always listen. It is your gut telling you to proceed with caution.
But, how can showing someone love be bad?
At first thought, love bombing may not sound too bad. Being bombarded with love sounds great, right? Well, it is misleading in that way and many others.
Love bombing is a weapon disguised as affection. It is when someone showers you with what seems like love and affection, but the endgame is to manipulate and influence you.
The problem with love bombing is that at first, it seems wonderful. It seems like you are entering into a wonderful relationship. Love bombing looks like what you have always wanted from a relationship, but it quickly becomes volatile.
From that brief explanation of love bombing, you might wonder how you differentiate between actual love and love bombing. Well, according to psychologists, love bombing was first introduced as a term referring to cults.
If you are familiar with David Koresh, a narcissistic cult leader, he used love bombing as a method of fabricating intense loyalty from his followers. Love bombing uses not only positive reinforcement to enact certain feelings, but it uses this reinforcement to excess.
But, how do you spot the difference between this and someone actually showering you with love? Well, that is where things get tricky. And that is how so many people get victimized by it.
At first, a love bomb feels wonderful
When first dating someone that uses love bombing as a tactic to control you, it feels great. Being showered with words of affection, compliments, flowers, and more feels like you are finally being validated. You feel like you finally found someone who knows how to treat you right.
This is something people with little dating experience can easily get caught up in. People with lower self-esteem also tend to be victims of love bombing which only leads to even more troubles later on.
If you’re wondering what is love bombing really and how do we get trapped into it, start with this.
Love bombing is infectious. It feels good and you get accustomed to it. This type of behavior can sway your thinking. Even if you are normally pragmatic, an excessive amount of adoration can cloud your vision. It can make you see someone as better than they actually are.
This is the first step of the love bomber. They have you hooked to this behavior. They have you involved and connected to them. While they come off as sincere, their motive is to get something for themselves in the long run. This is the behavior of a narcissist.
The effects of love bombing
Love bombing is essentially a trap and a way to hook you into a relationship quickly and deeply. It is what pulls you toward your partner and often away from friends and family.
It can even drive a wedge between you and your family because you may be blinded to this person’s bad side. Love bombers are master manipulators. They know how to ensure you only see one side of them; at least until it is too late.
This can lead to you staying in an abusive, controlling, or even violent relationship. It can also lead you to severe issues in future relationships. If a relationship based on love bombing ends, you have been conditioned to base your self-worth on affection from this person.
Now, without that excessive validation, you can go through a type of withdrawal. You then have to learn how to pick yourself up from that and receive love in a healthy way. But, instead of waiting for something this dreadful to happen, let’s try to outsmart the love bombers of the world!
How can you tell if you are the victim of a love bomb?
Typically, the person you start to date can’t get enough of you. They send you lavish praise and gifts and want to spend every waking moment making you feel good and fulfilled. Once they have you, they can’t be bothered with your existence, which leaves you an empty shell, no pun intended, for them to use and abuse.
But, now that we understand how to avoid love bombing ourselves, it is important to understand how to avoid love bombing in our partners.
Love bombing is terrifying because most of us don’t even know it is happening. If your boyfriend or girlfriend brings you home a box of chocolates or flowers, you might just think “wow what a sweet guy/girl.”
It’s romantic and intended to make you fall in love. What’s wrong with that? If they are being genuine, nothing. But if they manipulate you into falling for them, this is something to steer clear of. Learning to identify the following signs of love bombing saves you the heartache, my dears.
1. They are self-disclosed right up front
Someone love bombing you lets you into their personal world way too quickly. When we start dating, we usually keep certain personal things under lock and key. Keeping our distance is a way to stop ourselves from being vulnerable.
Someone set on love bombing you will seemingly let you into every aspect of their world, real or fake, to have you feeling like you have a special and strong bond even before it is possible.
If they tell you intimate details you are likely to do the same. Bam, they have all the ammo they need to manipulate you going forward. If they are into TMI territory too quickly, that is a red flag.
2. They can’t get enough of you
In a relationship, there is the honeymoon phase where you can’t get enough of each other. But, in most relationships starting out, there are specific rules about how much of the like we let out.
Not just about playing hard to get, most people don’t want to seem too eager or go overboard. A love bomber pretends they simply can’t hold back. They must have you. So, if they come on too strong or are too infatuated, they convince you that it is just that they can’t help themselves. They just know you are the one they can’t live without.
Their infatuation for you isn’t creepy like it sounds. It makes you feel like you are so impressive and awesome they can’t help themselves.
3. They talk about bringing you home to their family/the future on the second date
Most people who enter into relationships do so with caution. You don’t want to freak someone out by telling them you see a future with them or your kids will be amazingly hot.
They proceed in a normal way, taking steps that seem logical. If someone is love bombing you, there are no steps or stages. Right up front, they want to introduce you to mom and dad. They talk about where you’ll get married and raise kids.
Getting you caught up in the idea of being in love instantly is super engaging and puts those who are the victim of love bombing vulnerable by design.
4. They make you feel like you are super special
Sure, you have had people tell you you are hot before, but the love bomber can’t say enough nice things about you or to you. They shower you with compliments and adore your every move.
Everything annoying to others in the past is just as cute as can be to the love bomber.
We’re sorry to break it to you, if it annoys everyone else, they don’t find your idiosyncrasies cute. They just manipulate you to get you on the hook.
5. They make you wonder how they weren’t taken already
When love bombing you, they are so kind and generous and loving you can’t help but wonder why they haven’t been snatched up before. That is the whole gig. They want you to think they are highly desirable, but the good news is they only want you.
They work hard to make you believe there is something so spectacular about you that they are overcome and wouldn’t normally be so obsessive. What you usually find is a long list of victims in their past. Unfortunately, you don’t find that out until you are already sucked in and questioning everything.
6. They talk about things like soulmates
Okay, we’re not going to go into the whole debate about whether there is truly just one person out there for everyone.
We don’t know if there are truly soulmates, but what we can tell you is that if someone comes on super strong and is telling you on the second date that they must have you and have found their soulmate, then that red flag is so red, it is almost purple.
If there is such a thing as a soulmate, it isn’t about infatuation. It is about a mutual feeling that this is meant to be. If they convince you that things are meant to be, and you don’t feel it instantly too, question the whole thing!
7. Buying your love
In theory, being showered with gifts sounds wonderful. But, it can become overwhelming. Sometimes a girl just wants to hang out with a guy, without any gifts exchanged, ya know?
If it seems like they constantly buy you gifts to impress you, then you might be a victim of love bombing.
8. Suffocated with love
Similar to the previous point, if they constantly tell you how great you are, or any variation of the phrase, be wary. You can only say “thank you” so much in a conversation. Otherwise, it becomes pretty repetitive.
They can appreciate you for the wonderful human being you are, but they need to understand that there is a time and a place for it. Cuddling at night, alone — perfect time. In the middle of a group conversation with your friends? Maybe not so ideal.
9. They have a history
Ask around. If you didn’t know this person before you started dating them, then ask about them. You might find out that they tend to do this with a lot of their previous partners – that may be a sign they are a serial love bomber.
If someone is genuinely interested in you and wants to show their appreciation and love for you, they probably won’t have an avid history of doing the same to countless others. Just a note.
10. Do you really know them?
Sit and think about how many of your conversations have actually been meaningful. Do you know about their childhood, family life, hobbies, job, etc.? If you don’t know anything about them, besides their love for expressing their love for you, be careful.
Relationships grow through sharing past experiences and making new ones together — not through constant romantic gestures and “I love you’s.”
11. Do your friends like them?
Your friends know you better than you know yourself, and they also see through your unfortunate taste in romantic partners way before you do.
Introduce them to your friends and see what they think. They will be able to tell if they are genuine or if they are love bombing you and trying to manipulate you. Friends always know.
12. Constantly talking about the future
Love bombing literally means making you fall for somebody too fast. What better way to do that than to make promises of the future you will share together? If they constantly want to talk about the future and what you will name your children, FLEE.
13. They worship you
Okay, so in theory, everybody would love to be worshipped. But in reality, it’s just weird. You don’t need somebody following you around showering you with compliments, do you?
If you can do no wrong in their eyes, either you’re Beyoncé or a victim of love bombing. There is no in-between, sorry.
14. They don’t react well to a challenge
When they say things like “We belong together” say “How could you possibly know that?” Or “It’s still pretty early, but so far it is going good.”
This is one of the clearest signs of love bombing and it’s pretty easy to recognize. Love bombers don’t like to be challenged, because they aren’t used to it. Nobody ever questions them. They just fall madly in love with them. Don’t let it happen. Challenge them and see how they react to it.
15. They become jealous over nothing
Try going out with some friends one night and see their reaction. If you are a victim of love bombing, they will likely get very jealous and upset with you. “As if you are leaving me alone” may be thrown out there. You’re allowed to go have some fun, and a reasonable partner would understand that.
16. They are overprotective
Nobody could ever harm you or put you down. They make sure of that. Yes, we understand that our partners should support and stand up for us when necessary. Sometimes it really isn’t necessary.
If they go way over the top to defend you, then you might be being love-bombed. You can handle yourself, and some things really aren’t worth even defending.
17. Too much interest
This is something you should always be wary of. Some people call it picky, but once you are well-versed in love bombing, it makes sense. Dating is exciting. When you like someone it feels good. But, when someone is too interested right off the bat, it is not normal.
Sure, you can be attracted to someone or feel a connection, but if someone acts like they truly like you before even getting to know you, they are showing signs of love bombing.
18. Perfection isn’t real
No one is perfect. This is something a lot of people need to realize. Even the person that is perfect for you is not perfect. Things will go wrong. You will have disagreements. So, if you are dating someone and things seem perfect, it is time to question it.
We hate to be Debbie Downers, but when things seem too good to be true, they often are. We are not saying to look on the negative side, but be aware of someone that seems to have no faults. It may seem that way because they are taking great lengths to conceal it.
19. They’re big on guilt tripping
This is a classic sign of manipulation. Even if it is not a part of love bombing, it is not healthy. Love bombers give gifts, make promises, and tell you everything you want to hear. So, when you do not fit the mold they preset for you, they guilt you into it.
Going to visit your family this weekend instead of staying with them? They may question your loyalty when they have done nothing but love you. They use all their love bombing as examples for why you should pick them first.
20. Positive manipulation
You know how a parent will promise their child a treat if they behave in the store? Or maybe how you get your dog to do a trick for a biscuit?
That is essentially how this person treats you. It may sound shallow and you may think you would never fall for something like this, but we are all vulnerable to it.
Once you grow accustomed to this person’s love bombing, that is all you know. And you are addicted to it in a way.
For example, if you don’t want to see his softball team lose another game? Well, he may flood you with love and kisses to sway you. Eventually, though, that sweetness melts away, and the conditioning you endured will keep you around when that love bombing turns angry.
21. Everything is moving so fast
Some relationships naturally move quickly. And often, successful couples with that beginning say it just felt right. But, when things move quickly we can get overwhelmed and before we know it, we are living with someone we barely know. That makes ending things or slowing them down that much more difficult.
That is exactly what a love bomber wants. They want to trap you with kindness, so they tell you that you’re the one. They make promises and treat you like a queen or a king. You will be so caught up in the fairytale of it all, you won’t have time to sit back and think about it until it is too late.
If you started dating someone with the intent to take things slow or even just see them casually and things take off running, ask them to go at a more comfortable pace. If they use any of the earlier tactics to convince you everything is right on schedule, they are most likely love bombing you.
A healthy partner will have no problem making you feel comfortable. But, do look out for someone that says slowing down is fine, but doesn’t live up to that statement.
A tale as old as time
Love bombing might be a new name, but it is an old practice. A way to manipulate people, someone who love bombs comes on way too strong to get you to trust them and let your guard down. Just when they have you under their wiles, they can’t be bothered with you.
Just a manipulative tactic to feed whatever sick need they have, don’t fall prey to love bombing now you know what it looks like.