A masochistic person is someone who finds gratification through pain, degradation, or self-denial.

Masochism is popularly associated with BDSM (also known as Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadochism and Masochism); a sexual masochist is someone who likes pain as part of sexual activity, which can be a healthy and empowering kink.

But there are also less healthy types of masochism that manifest in people's personal and professional lives.

The psychological masochist is someone who looks for ways to torment themselves in their day-to-day.

The No. 1 sign that someone is a masochist is that they are unable to say no.

Saying no is not selfish or unkind—it's an act of radical self-care. It's a way to communicate that you’re not able to say yes without inflicting literal or metaphorical pain upon yourself.

If you're not sure whether to say yes or no, pause and take a breather. Does your inclination to say yes come from a desire to please someone or seek approval?

Check your motivations and give yourself permission to be kind to yourself.

You're religious about your morning meditation practice. You try to do yoga every day, even when you're sick, and if you miss it, you feel awful.

You won't let yourself "cheat" on your diet, even when it's your birthday. You beat yourself up when you have too much to drink, and gaining five pounds turns you into a self-berating exercise tyrant.

A masochist sees personal pain and sacrifice as a means to gain validation.

Check your motivations any time you're called on for a favor, especially those that require you to sacrifice a lot of yourself.

Many people, especially those with the healer archetype, tend to get uncomfortable when too many blessings flow their way. In order to turn this around, you'll have to practice "bench pressing" your receiving muscles.

Just like biceps, your receiving muscles need exercise. Try giving yourself what psychologist Anne Davin, Ph.D., calls a "beauty bath."

Narcissists can be charismatic, compelling, magnetic, and hard to avoid. But if you keep walking straight into that trap over and over, you may very well be a masochist—and an echoist, aka the opposite of a narcissist who's always falling for them.

It's one thing to be kind, compassionate, and accommodating. It's a whole other thing to let yourself become a doormat. The latter falls into masochistic territory.

Many masochistic behaviors actually stem from perfectionism. Life is messy. It's easy to become overwhelmed by a fear of being perceived as imperfect—a sort of fascism of the soul.

There's no way to avoid feeling sad, lost, disappointed, scared, or angry sometimes.

Spiritual bypassing—masking emotions by shifting your energy or monitoring your thoughts—always comes back to bite you.

While it may help you avoid painful emotions in the short term, suppressing yourself is a soul-splintering sort of masochism.

Masochists see drama and run right into the heart of it. If you're a drama junkie, ask yourself why. Doesn't it hurt? Do you want to keep hurting?

While I'm not suggesting that we should all turn into overindulgent hedonists, the inability to relax into simple pleasures is an obvious sign of masochism.

Make sure you're not kicking yourself if some points on this list describe you. Again, it's OK that you're not perfect.

Just think of this as a time to look inward and work on yourself—most of us have tendencies that result in some form of self-sabotage, and now you've identified a few of yours.