When dealing with a cruel and controlling boss, it’s important—albeit challenging—to avoid directly expressing anger, frustration, and impatience as much as possible, as this can exacerbate the situation and motivate your boss to further target you. Instead, make an effort to communicate calmly and tactfully, sticking to the facts and removing yourself from the situation when your boss speaks or behaves inappropriately. Set firm boundaries—for example, shutting off your device at a set time each day and not responding to further communication. If your boss also behaves abusively toward coworkers, reach out to them for support and band together to address the problems. If necessary, reporting an abusive boss to HR (with coworkers’ backing, if possible) can better ensure that problems are addressed.