Three Strikes and You're Out!

People stay in horrible relationships way too long with the hopes of “working things out.” More often than not, things never work out! The time to get out of a verbally abusive relationship is NOW! In baseball there is a rule that after three strikes, you are out. And in some states across America there is a “three strikes” law.
Therefore, I believe as well in the “three-strike rule” when it comes to being verbally abused. The first time a person verbally abuses you, even though it's awful, can be written off to “having a bad day,” “not feeling well,” “having PMS,” or “testing you to see how far they can go”—pushing their limits with you.
The second time it happens is horrible, but it can be attributed to “a life crisis” (such as job problems, problems with children or with family members excluding you, health issues involving anything from a cold to impotence, menopause, or a life threatening illness). But the third time it happens, there are no more excuses. You're out! Leave!

Enough Is Enough! Knowing When to Retreat

When is the verbal war over? How do you know if you were the winner or the loser? The answer is simple. If you have used up all of the verbal defense strategies in the last two chapters, and nothing has worked, it’s time to retreat. This means “unplug.” Get away from the extremely toxic verbal abuser. Run. Run as fast as you can!
Run for your life.
Some individuals are similar to drug addicts on PCP. It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to quell their bizarre and often violent and intensely destructive behavior (like running naked down the street). They develop the strength of ten men, to the point that in many cases they are impermeable. They are literally like “Supermen” who can’t be defeated by the usual methods. They are physically resistant to pain, perhaps because the alteration in their biochemistry doesn’t register the sensation of pain.
Because individuals on PCP are usually a danger to themselves and to society, great efforts are made to capture them and lock them up. Several law enforcement officers report that such individuals are so strong that it can take up to twelve officers to subdue them. Additional reports claim that they easily burst open their handcuffs and chains and can even bend the bars of their jail cells.
Similarly, if none of your verbal strategies worked to subdue the verbal bully, you need to cut your losses and move on; otherwise, like people on PCP, they can annihilate you.
If you have done everything, from giving them love and kindness to giving them hell and yelling a them, and if none of the techniques could soften or change the verbal bully’s behavior, you have absolutely no other recourse than to run for your life!

“Give ‘Em Hell and Yell” Strategy.

Similar to the Mirror Strategy, the Give ‘Em Hell and Yell Strategy allows people to see how verbally toxic they are. Although we have been conditioned that it’s not nice to scream and yell at people, there are times when you have no choice. You are at your wit’s end. You’ve tried everything else and the verbal vulture still doesn’t “hear” you.
There is nothing else to do but “let ‘em have it!” Go for it! Be as loud and angry as you want. Let your face turn red and the veins in your neck pop out and pulsate. Yes, you can even say a four-letter word or two and contort your face to look like a monster. The key is to say anything (short of threatening their livelihood or their life) to get out the anger and frustration that you have towards them. Don’t keep any of it in! Open the flood gates and let it roar! It gives you permission to act like a wild tiger. Yes, you read correctly, I said that it was okay to use cuss words (but don’t make a habit of it). Doing so, and “shocking” them into listening to you, might be the only way you can get them to finally hear you.
A big word of CAUTION! Never use any of these strategies in conjunction with your hands, arms, fists, legs, feet, or teeth. Never use any weapons (knives, forks, guns, rifles, machine guns, or hand grenades) whatsoever, even if it’s only done for effect, to threaten or scare your verbally offensive opponent. The potential consequences can be horrific!