On being Verbally Attacked

On more than one occasion, I have found myself being verbally assaulted. Usually, the attacker has my best interest at heart and simply wants to make me aware in great detail of my character flaws or how I should act to get well, implying my current approach to getting well is all wrong. This is not to be confused with constructive criticism or a reasonable conversation of differing opinions. This is no debate. When the words land on me they hurt, belittle and depress. If you are fighting a GBM, the overall net effect is a die message to your body/mind. I have reasoned there are three options:

1) Fight back - I cannot win and fighting back only increases the passion at which the attack is being delivered.

2) Try to Ignore - Hard to do, but better than fighting, the attacker’s words still hurt.

3) Rise above the conflict - I imagine myself in a small boat on very rough water. The wind and waves are tossing the boat around violently. Next, I imagine myself floating above the boat and the water. I disconnect from the situation, floating higher and higher until I can see and hear the attack being delivered below and it is safe to discredit the attacker. Even though I can still hear the words, the words can no longer hurt me and I can grunt out agreements, which eventually defuses the conflict as the attacker grows weary of saying the same thing over and over.