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Narcissistic Abuse is Never Your Fault! (Sam Vaknin in Serbia)

Uploaded 2/14/2023, approx. 2 minute read

The most important thing to know when you are in a relationship with the narcissist is that there is nothing you can do.

No behavior will be ever right.

No decision, no choice, no support, no love, no advice. There is nothing you can do because the narcissist's behavior is determined from the inside, not from the outside.

You are not at fault, you are not guilty, you are not to blame and you are not responsible because you are not relevant to the narcissist.

As far as the narcissist is concerned, you are a function, you are interchangeable, you are fungible, you are just the latest in line.

You are like a commodity, like a grain of rice. You are supposed to provide sex, services and supply, statistic and narcissistic and safety. These are the four S's.

Any two of these four and you're in as the narcissist partner.

So the narcissist tries to convert you into an object and one of the ways to do that is to take away your independence, autonomy, agency, free thinking.

Another way is to isolate you from your support network, from family, from friends, to render you financially dependent or emotionally dependent or otherwise dependent on him.

He replaces your reality testing.

You begin to doubt your own judgment. You begin to doubt your own perception of what is real and what is not.

The narcissist is terrified that you should abandon him.

So he is trying to convert you into an internal object rather than an external one.

He treats you as an extension of himself, another arm, another leg.

Narcissistic abuse is the most horrific form of abuse because it's not about taking something away from you. It's about engaging you. It's about making you disappear.

[MUSIC PLAYING].

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How Narcissist Sees YOU

The narcissist perceives others, including intimate partners, as extensions of themselves rather than as separate individuals, leading to a distorted view of relationships. Initially, they idealize their partner, but as reality sets in and the partner deviates from this ideal, the narcissist shifts to blame and resentment, viewing them as the source of their problems. This blame-shifting is coupled with a victim mentality, where the narcissist sees themselves as innocent and the partner as manipulative, leading to a toxic dynamic filled with projection and gaslighting. Ultimately, the narcissist's inability to accept the partner's autonomy and their own flaws results in a cycle of devaluation and potential discard, as they struggle with their own unresolved childhood traumas.


Why Narcissist Devalues YOU (Hint: Wants YOU "Dead")

Narcissists devalue their partners as a form of self-defense and control. There are two types of devaluation: preemptive and reactive. Preemptive devaluation occurs when a narcissist is in a transitional state between overt and covert narcissism, and they devalue potential sources of supply to prevent the overt side from using them against the covert side. Reactive devaluation is a response to a perceived threat to the narcissist's grandiosity or control. Both types of devaluation are harmful to the victim and serve to maintain the narcissist's sense of power and control.


Loving My Narcissist HURTS so much!

Loving a narcissist leads to profound emotional pain due to their lack of empathy and inability to form genuine connections, resulting in a cycle of idealization followed by devaluation. The narcissist's behavior often mirrors their unresolved childhood traumas, causing them to inflict similar pain on their partners without conscious awareness. This relationship dynamic creates a sense of existential loneliness and disorientation, as the partner feels increasingly invisible and unacknowledged. Ultimately, the experience leaves lasting scars, transforming the partner's self-perception and ability to trust in love and relationships.


Narcissist Sees You As TWO WOMEN Reframing Mortifications, Exiting Shared Fantasy

The narcissist perceives their partner as two separate entities, which complicates the dynamics of the relationship. Their love is viewed as a vulnerability to be exploited, leading to emotional detachment and potential infidelity from the partner as a desperate attempt to regain acknowledgment and connection. When a breakup occurs, the narcissist does not mourn the individual but rather the loss of the shared fantasy and the investment they made in it, viewing all sources of supply as interchangeable. The cycle of narcissistic abuse involves oscillating between external and internal mortification, where the narcissist reframes situations to maintain a sense of control and superiority. Ultimately, to escape the shared fantasy, the partner must take drastic actions that may include infidelity, as this is often the only way to provoke a response from the narcissist and reclaim their autonomy.


How Narcissist Defeminizes You: Answering Your Questions

Narcissists often withdraw from social interactions as a form of punishment, feeling unappreciated and wronged, which leads to a cycle of self-soothing through isolation and grandiosity. Hoovering, or attempting to re-establish contact with former partners, is possible after internal modification, but unlikely if the narcissist perceives external blame for their situation. The refusal to grow up and take on adult responsibilities, such as having children, reflects a deeper psychological issue, often leading to a dynamic where the narcissist's partner is left to seek fulfillment elsewhere. This asymmetry in relationships can result in the partner engaging with other men to meet their emotional and sexual needs, while the narcissist remains indifferent, focusing on their own needs and fantasies. Ultimately, the narcissist's inability to engage in a healthy adult relationship perpetuates a cycle of dysfunction and emotional turmoil for both parties involved.


Narcissist's Insignificant Other: Typical Spouse or Intimate Partner

Living with a narcissist can be exhilarating, but it is always onerous and often harrowing. Surviving a relationship with a narcissist, maintaining a relationship, preserving it, insisting on remaining with a narcissist, indicates therefore the parameters of the personality of the victim, of the partner, of the spouse. The partner, the spouse, and the mate of a narcissist who insists on remaining in the relationship and preserving it is molded by it into the typical narcissistic mate, spouse, or partner. The two, the narcissist and his spouse, collaborate in this dance macabre.


From Grooming to Discard via Shared Fantasy: Cheat, Mortify, Exit

The narcissist initially presents themselves as a strict, controlling figure to potential partners, embodying a sadistic parental role that later shifts to a petulant, self-centered child. This dynamic creates a confusing cycle where the partner oscillates between feeling cherished and devalued, ultimately leading to feelings of abandonment and the partner's potential infidelity as a means of reclaiming autonomy. The relationship is characterized by a shared fantasy that both parties agree to, but as reality intrudes, the narcissist's emotional withdrawal and abusive behavior emerge, culminating in a phase of mortification for both. Ultimately, the narcissist's need for a maternal figure and constant validation drives them to seek new relationships, perpetuating a cycle of emotional manipulation and dependency.


Narcissist Needs You to Fail Him, Let Go (with Azam Ali)

Narcissism is fundamentally a failure to transition from self-preoccupation to other-preoccupation, resulting in individuals who lack a coherent self and rely on external validation for their sense of existence. The dynamics of narcissistic relationships involve a shared fantasy where the narcissist coerces their partner into a role that ultimately leads to devaluation and discard, as the narcissist cannot tolerate the separateness of others. This cycle is driven by the narcissist's unresolved childhood conflicts, where they seek to reenact their relationship with their mother, perpetually attempting to separate and individuate but failing to do so. The relationship is characterized by a profound lack of empathy and a need for control, leading to a toxic environment where both parties' needs become irreconcilable, resulting in a tragic interplay of dependency and denial of individuality.


Why Narcissist Can't Love (with Daria Żukowska, Clinical Psychologist)

Narcissists are incapable of genuine love, as they view others merely as extensions of themselves and process emotions through a cognitive lens rather than an emotional one. Their relationships often involve a shared fantasy where they idealize their partner, but this is ultimately a self-serving mechanism that leads to devaluation and discard once the fantasy fades. The pain experienced in relationships with narcissists stems from multiple forms of grief, including the loss of an idealized self-image and the disillusionment of the shared fantasy. To avoid such relationships, individuals should recognize early warning signs of narcissistic behavior, establish firm boundaries, and prioritize self-awareness to prevent falling into the trap of idealization and dependency.


Narcissist’s Two Rejections Giving, Love, And Abuse

The relationship cycle with a narcissist is characterized by a distorted understanding of love, where giving equates to love and entitles the narcissist to abuse, stemming from their childhood experiences of associating love with trauma. This cycle is transactional, with both parties believing that their acts of giving justify reciprocal abuse, leading to a dynamic where rejection and betrayal are perceived differently by the narcissist compared to their partner. Women, in particular, trigger deep-seated childhood traumas in the narcissist when they abandon or cheat on him, as he equates these actions to maternal rejection, resulting in feelings of mortification and unlovability. Ultimately, the narcissist's inability to form a healthy adult identity leads to a relationship dynamic that is fraught with emotional manipulation, role confusion, and a lack of genuine intimacy.

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