At some point in time in our lives, we have all come across a few people who have exhibited narcissistic traits and behaviors.
A narcissist is a person who has excessive admiration or interest in themselves. For those who might be wondering, there is a huge difference between being a narcissist and having self-confidence or self-worth.
This personality disorder has caused a lot of strain in the past, because most times, those with the disorder are not aware of it themselves, so also their partner, hence the solution is far fetched due to ignorance. While there may be no permanent solutions to stopping your partner from being a narcissist, it helps to even be aware that he or she is exhibiting these traits.
- They always feel and talk about how special they are: The major red flag about a narcissist is the over-inflated sense of self-importance. They always want to feel special, hence they project such needs to their partners hoping, they would recognize it and duly give them the respect they desire.
A majority of their conversations revolve around how special they and how their partner should respect that fact. The moment they notice a shift of attention from their self perceived ‘awesomeness’, they look for means to redirect the path. Sometimes, they also make overemphasize the fact that their partners are lucky to have them, due to how special they are. This can be quite overwhelming and emotionally draining, mostly for partners who aren’t even aware of this condition.
- They lack empathy: A narcissist is always looking out for their own interest, hence the emotions of others are somewhat alien to them. They don’t know how to react and contain it when the emotional attention has shifted from. When this happens sometimes, you begin to question if you’re being overly sensitive or simply overreacting. They are capable of twisting such moments in their favour and show no sign of relating to the feelings of their partner.
Their lack of empathy also comes with a big prize of making their partners feel they are at fault and even worse, feel lesser of themselves than they were when the relationship began.
- They are so manipulative: Just to feed their oversized ego, a narcissistic partner would always be manipulative in dealing with situations. Thye always want to win, and never want to feel bad about anything. If you find yourself always apologetic to your partner, even when you have done nothing wrong, you are most likely with a narcissist.
Sometimes, it gets so bad to the point, that you begin to feel they are doing you a favour, by staying in the relationship with, hence it is your duty to worship and adore them.
- They are always right: A narcissist sees nothing wrong in what they do, so they are always right. When this happens, they find it hard to apologize, because they are simply in the right. With their manipulative abilities, they keep turning the tables until it eventually faces and meets their own personal justification.
This can be emotionally distorting and discouraging, most especially on partners who have decided to give everything, without holding back, as it also affects such a person’s sense of reasoning.
- Their idea of friendship is vague: If your partner only wants you to be around him or her, disregarding preexisting relationships, then there is a problem. Narcissists would stop at nothing to maintain the attention given to them, hence anything that poses a threat to that attention would most likely be severed.
In turn, they also lack long term friendships and relationships because they chose their circle according to their pressing at the time, and they have fulfiled that area, such a relationship ends.
Though it is not set in stone that of your partner exhibits more than two of these traits, that he or she is narcissist, however, it serves as a major pointer, so that you are aware of the situation and know the kind of decisions to be made.
No matter what your decision may be, always ensure that you look out for yourself and well, and regard your own mental and emotional stability, which is paramount.
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