There are people scattered throughout our society who are like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. This subset of the population has nefarious personality types defined in the Dark Tetrad – sadism, machiavellianism, psychopathy, and narcissism.
Narcissists’ definitive trait is that they are extremely self-centered, even at the expense of others. Everyone has the capacity to be self-centered and can be arrogant or entitled at times. However, narcissists take this to the extreme and behave in ways that are damaging to those in their lives.
Only about 1% of the population is officially diagnosed with NPD, but experts believe the real number is much higher: about 1 in 6 people.
In this article, I will explain how narcissists tear apart their families and how they act behind closed doors.
Let’s begin!
What is the Behavior of Narcissists
Narcissists can be very difficult to live with. They might create family structures that suffer from poor communication, no clear boundaries, secret keeping, and unhealthy competition among family members. Narcissists use some common techniques to keep their control in a household and to maintain their sense of self importance.
They are known to gaslight and blame shift to trick their children and spouses into believing they are always right. They also tend to exaggerate their achievements and minimize others’ feelings because they have an inflated sense of self. In some cases, they can use charm and love bombing to lure others into forgetting their poor behavior.
This behavior can be exhausting to deal with in close quarters. The family members of a narcissist can develop several negative long term effects from dealing with their conduct, such as low self-esteem, distrust of others, and addictions with food and substances.
Conclusion
After many years of dealing with a toxic environment, these family members may finally decide that enough is enough, and try to separate themselves from the narcissist. It is important to initiate this process carefully, by separating finances, making new contact information, and planning for child custody.
