Control freak is a colloquialism for a person who feels a psychological need to constantly be in charge of things and people around them. A control freak can become distressed when they feel things are going out of control.[1] The feel of the need to control is often attributed to the underlying fear of losing control over their lives.[2]
Control freaks are often insecure and perfectionists.[4] Additionally, they may even manipulate or pressure others to change to avoid having to change themselves. They may have had an overbearing mother or father.[5] Furthermore, control freaks sometimes have similarities to codependents, in the sense that the latter's fear of abandonment leads to attempts to control those they are dependent on.[6]
Examples
Steve Jobs— Steve Jobs was a perfectionist who favored the closed system of control over all aspects of a product from start to finish — what he termed the integrated over the fragmented approach.[7] As Steve Wozniak, his long-term collaborator and occasional critic, put it: "Apple gets you into their playpen and keeps you there".[8]
Queen Victoria— A series of three documentary programs on BBC2 in the UK in January 2013 called Queen Victoria's Children argued that Queen Victoria was a pathological control freak by the way she controlled the welfare of all her children.[9]
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