Emotionally disconnected: It’s not uncommon to not understand how to emotionally respond to situations or people, or even express emotions at all.

Step Two: Self-Care Is Priority #1: Self-care–nurturing physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health–is the first thing to be tossed aside when having a relationship with a narcissist.

Be on guard and second-guess every word they say, especially any hints of their willingness to change.

Codependency incorporates various aspects of attachment style patterns developed in early childhood. At its core, it refers to a pattern of imbalanced relationships in which one person takes on the responsibility of meeting another person’s needs, even to the point of excluding their own

The concern is when the self becomes the focus over their goals, even at the cost of other people’s wants and needs. And it’s at this point it branches off into a personality disorder, rather than a person who’s simply secure in who they are.

Triangulation: This is when the narcissist recruits another person to side with them to support their endeavors in harming the victim. This is most often done as a form of punishing the victim either for not doing what’s expected of them or when they finally see the light and end the toxic relationship.

That means finding the needed closure in a different way, and that’s from within. The strength and courage it took to remove yourself from that level of abuse is powerful, and not a move that many others in the same situation are able to do. The closure you’re looking for can be drawn from that,

The irony is that underneath all the masks, they actually feel exactly opposite to the image they portray.

You realize you can’t make everyone happy.