What does an emotionally manipulative parent look like?

All my life my mom has alternated between making me feel on top of the world and making me feel like shit. She got mad at me when I would stare at her then she would get mad at me when I became sensitive. While I was never professionally diagnosed, I believed that I got situational depression from her and the rest of my family. Frequently she made me (almost) cry. Is this emotional manipulation or just normal relations.