Why can’t I leave my narcissist?

Healthy relationships involve honesty, trust, respect and open communication between partners and they take effort and compromise from both people. There is no imbalance of power. Partners respect each other’s independence, can make their own decisions without fear of retribution or retaliation, and share decisions.

Well, with a narcissist, none of these traits are part of a relationship. A narcissistic person can negatively affect a relationship in numerous ways. They tend to prioritize their own needs and desires above their partner’s, leading to feelings of neglect and resentment. They may also become manipulative, controlling, and verbally abusive. Narcissistic individuals may struggle with empathy and fail to consider their partner’s feelings, leading to a lack of emotional connection and intimacy in the relationship.

Narcissistic partners may act as if they are always right, act like they know better and sometimes treat their partner as incompetent or always wrong. This often leaves the other person in the relationship either angry and always trying to defend themselves. Sometimes they may even begin identifying themselves with a negative self-image and constantly feeling badly about themselves.

After they put you down, they will sometimes “love bomb” and show you all sorts of affection to show that they are sorry.They may try to make their partner feel better in a relationship by using flattery or praise to boost their ego or by showering them with gifts or attention to reinforce their own self-image as a generous and caring partner. However, these actions are often self-serving and lack genuine concern for their partner’s well-being.

Therapy can help you open your eyes and understand how a narcissist thinks here are a few thing therapy can do.

• Building new coping skills.
• Telling people about the abuse.
• Fighting urges to contact the abusive person.
• Dealing with depression, anxiety, or other mental health symptoms.
• Overcoming thoughts of suicide or self-harm.
• Finding a safe plan if you choice to leave the relationship.

If you’ve read our blog above and this describes you or the relationship you’re currently in, give us a call to talk more! We are here for you, and our licensed and trained professionals can help you today.