2. They try to gaslight you!
When you feel uneasy, you know something bad has happened, especially during a conversation. Gaslighting is a common term used to describe the destructive way a narcissistic person approaches their interlocutor. “You’re insane!” “It’s all in your head!” “That didn’t happen.” “Why do you invent things like this?” If these phrases sound familiar to you, then you’re dealing with a narcissist, and you’ve been clearly gaslighted by them.
The most subtle form of psychological manipulation is gaslighting. If you’re constantly questioning your honesty, it will change the way you perceive the world. Your self-doubt diminishes your confidence in yourself, which makes it impossible for you to feel empowered to identify and report abuse and mistreatment.
In most cases, narcissists choose partners who are vulnerable and weak. If this sounds familiar to you, then next time you have an argument with a person like this, make sure you write down everything you both discussed.
Share these details with a close group of friends or a member of your family that you deeply trust. If the person who gaslighted you is your partner, try to discuss this issue as calmly as possible. However, if after the discussion things stay the same, maybe it’s time to move on without them.
Dear M.G.,
Great, helpful article. If your true mission is narcissist awareness, please consider changing one of the two stock images in the article to that of a man gaslighting a woman. It is a stereotype that women are controlling over men and their husbands, but the scenario can also be flipped with the woman being put under narcissistic abuse in a familial or romantic relationship with a male identifying person. Please consider bringing awareness to narcissistic personality disorder being possible in both men and women. Would you consider making the first of the two stock photos in the article the one depicting a male with NPD and a female victim of the abuse to help correct this cultural misconception between gender and NPD. This could help so many women not talk themselves out of identifying a person in their lives with NPD!!
Thank you for sending this email about narcissism. Sadly a close female family member is married to a narcissist. She is so battered that she doesn’t realize how entrenched she is in toxic relationship. She knows she’s unhappy but has no fight left in her. She won’t confide in me anymore because he has poisoned her against me. Again thank you so much for this advice