People with High Narcissistic Traits (HNT) feel terrified when they're emotionally intimate with people.
They want to run.
Why You Feel Alone In Relationships With Them:
People with high narcissistic traits have had many attachment injuries during childhood.
This left them with the belief that they're broken, shameful, and defective.
They cope with this through "needing no one."
Of course, we all seek human connection.
So they commit to people, but ultimately feel smothered and overwhelmed.
They shut down, give the silent treatment, or fantasize about having their freedom again.
Relationships require vulnerability.
The narcissist is consumed with the fear of emotional intimacy. They don't want to experience humiliation or shame again.
But you want deeper connection.
This is when they begin relationship sabotage.
As you push for connection, they start adapting to their typical avoidance coping mechanisms.
This looks like:
- talking over you constantly
- deflection
- mocking or minimizing your needs
- constantly making jokes (can never be serious)
- accusing you of things (sometimes paranoia)
- disappearing for periods of time
Their inner world is chaos so...
They only feel safe when they can control.
They dominate and control through acting out.
Acting out is a left over coping mechanism form childhood.
It looks like:
- showing up late
- cancelling last minute
- refusing to collaborate on decisions
- giving the silent treatment
- leaving you waiting, often
- constantly changing their mind
As you feel more and more alone, you start to abandon yourself. You avoid certain topics, talk yourself out of your own needs, and start to feel like you're just "too much."
But you stay, hoping they'll finally see what they have.
But they don't have that capacity because they're at war with themselves.
They can't fully let you in, because they haven't even began to accept themselves.
They are frozen emotionally in childhood, and physically appear as an adult.
You feel alone, because you are.
They're a million miles away. Always in flight mode. Always planning the next trip, escape, drink, or anything else that helps them leave their body.
You can't connect with someone who always wants to escape.
This month in my private membership community we're covering all things on covert narcissism.
How to deal with someone with an avoidant attachment style:
People with avoidant attachment feel most safe when they are alone and independent. They learned early people can't be trusted, and that no one will help them when they need it.
Their biggest struggle is direct communication.
When they're emotionally overwhelmed, they shut down. They spend time alone as a default stress response.
The best way to respond to difficult or combative people is to never fawn, apologize, or shrink.
A complete guide to not having a cortisol spike:
Difficult or combative people are trying to re-enforce victimhood in almost every experience they have. Daily interactions become an opportunity for them to create conflict where conflict doesn't exist.
Deep down, they have a lot of shame over their own needs. They don't know how to directly ask for their own needs to be met, and expect people around them to "just know" what they want.
If her downfall came from her marriage that broke her, here's how you can honor her today:
Some of us watched our mothers live in chains. Not visible chains, but the chains of a toxic marriage, of doing all the emotional labor, and of giving much more than she ever received.
Some of us saw our mother's slip away into depression. Some of us saw her lay in bed day after day as the light left her eyes and the pain of loneliness consumed her.
How to deal with someone who is committed to misunderstanding you:
Emotionally difficult people are fulfilled by getting someone else emotionally activated. They want your reaction. Good or bad, it feeds their deep longing for connection.
They escalate situations quickly or assume things you don't mean. Your heart might start racing. You go on the defensive. You over-explain.