I've learned to use reverse psychology to get what I wanted very early on in my life, simply as a 'survival technique' in dealing with the type of personalities of the people in my primary environment. What I learned as an adult however is that what I was really teaching myself is to suppress myself - my wants, needs and voice - just to try and obtain something from another which my mind was telling me I 'needed'.

I realized that I had created a 'rift' inside myself, with on the one hand my wants and needs which had become suppressed and on the other hand the 'reverse psychology manipulator' who appeared to not want or need anything (or at least never expressed it) and existed for the sole purpose of manipulating situations in the hope of eventually getting what she secretly wanted out of it.

When you use manipulation on your reality, you have to first and foremost be honest with yourself and ask yourself why you are using manipulation. Are you using manipulation because you actually fear speaking up and expressing yourself? If so, then the manipulation will only serve as further self-suppression and can in the long run contribute to social disorders and experiences like depression.

Is whatever your mind is telling you that you 'want' or 'need' really worth suppressing your expression within manipulation for it?

Manipulation in it's purest form should be used only within the context of directing situations to have the best outcome for all, where there is no self-interest or personal desires involved. Whenever you do things in your mind, you're not just playing games with others but mostly you're playing yourself without even being aware of it.