Covert #narcissists are obsessively skilled at being subtly abusive and acting like they are “just showing concern” or some other form of excuse. This is a carefully honed skill-craft where they very closely observe the limits of what they can get away with and ride that line like a razors edge, insidiously pushing it as far as they can.
This gives them a feeling of “Duper’s delight”. It fuels their ego, allowing them to feel as if they are “smarter than” the people they are duping. It is sociopathic and sadistic regardless of its subtlety. They might try to say that they’re “just being helpful” or “just showing concern”, but they will very subtly and intentionally be offensive JUST ENOUGH that they can play dumb or play innocent and still provoke some anger or contempt from other people. This is calculated. They’re hoping someone will get angry or offended at them and respond aggressively, then they can turn around and play a victim role. Remember what they do, they jump back-and-forth from being a saint to a victim. This is their little hobby. Their sick and sadistic form of entertainment.

Malignant and covert #narcissists often exhibit a strong need to vilify others, including morally good individuals.
The vilification of others serves to protect their ego, maintain control, and satisfy their need for attention and validation. This behavior is rooted in deep-seated insecurities, lack of empathy, and a desire to assert dominance over others. 🧵 Malignant and covert narcissists are particularly likely to vilify individuals who possess qualities or attributes that threaten their fragile self-esteem, sense of control, or desire for superiority. Here are the types of people they are most likely to target:

People Malignant Narcissists are most likely to vilify

1. Competent and Successful Individuals: Malignant narcissists often feel threatened by those who are successful or competent, as these individuals highlight their own inadequacies. They may vilify such people to undermine their achievements and reduce the threat to their own self-image.

2. Moral and Ethical Individuals: People with strong moral and ethical standards can be targets because their integrity and goodness contrast sharply with the narcissist’s own lack of morality. Malignant narcissists may attempt to smear their reputations to diminish their influence and elevate their own status.

3. Authority Figures: Those in positions of authority, such as bosses, teachers, or community leaders, can be vilified if the narcissist perceives them as obstacles to their own power and control. By discrediting authority figures, malignant narcissists attempt to assert dominance.

4. Close Relationships: Friends, family members, or romantic partners who see through the narcissist's facade or challenge their behavior are often vilified. This serves to isolate these individuals and prevent them from exposing the narcissist’s true nature.

People Covert Narcissists are most likely to vilify

1. Empathetic and Caring Individuals: Covert narcissists may feel envious of people who are genuinely empathetic and caring, as these qualities starkly contrast with their own lack of empathy. They might vilify these individuals to feel superior and to manipulate others into seeing them as victims.

2. Confident and Assertive Individuals: Those who are confident and assertive can make covert narcissists feel insecure and inadequate. By vilifying these individuals, covert narcissists try to bring them down to feel better about themselves.

3. Popular or Well-Liked Individuals: People who are popular and well-liked are often targets because they receive the admiration and validation that covert narcissists crave. By attacking their character, covert narcissists aim to undermine their social standing and shift attention to themselves.

4. Challengers to Their Victim Narrative: Individuals who do not buy into the covert narcissist’s victim narrative or who challenge their manipulative behaviors are likely to be vilified. This allows the narcissist to maintain their perceived victim status and avoid accountability.

“Manipulative Concern” is a covertly malicious abuse tactic where an abuser pretends to worry about their victim’s behavior to manipulate others into believing the person is unstable. This false concern is actually meant to increase the victim's stress as the abuser taunts the victim by gaslighting the world and creating a false narrative.
This abuse tactic is meant to interrupt the victim’s healing process keeping them forever traumatized by creating the very problems the abuser suggests as a self fulfilling prophecy while simultaneously painting themselves as innocent and “helpful”.
It is a covertly sadistic form of control over their victim and can be performed in front of the world which makes it that much more devastating to the victim of this horrible abuse tactic. Here’s a breakdown:

Feigning Concern - The abuser pretends to be worried about their victim's behavior. They might say things like, "I'm really worried about them; their behavior seems erratic."

Creating False Narratives - The abuser exaggerates or fabricates problems about the victim's behavior to others. They might take normal or minor behaviors and blow them out of proportion to make it seem like the victim has serious issues.

Manipulating Others - By expressing these fake concerns, the abuser influences others to also worry about the victim. This can make others believe the victim is unstable or has serious problems, even when it isn't true.

Increasing Victim's Stress - The victim, aware of this manipulation, feels stressed and frustrated. They know they are being unfairly portrayed but may feel powerless to stop it. This increased stress can lead the victim to act out, which then "proves" the abuser's false narrative, creating a vicious cycle.

Hindering Healing - This tactic is particularly harmful because it can interfere with the victim's psychological healing. For example, a scapegoat child recovering from past abuse might start to feel better, but the abuser’s false concerns can make others doubt the child’s progress. This can make the child feel misunderstood and isolated, slowing their recovery.

“Projection” is often used by individuals with #narcissistic personality disorder to deflect attention away from their own flaws and to manipulate others into believing their distorted version of reality.
This involves attributing their own unwanted feelings, traits, or behaviors onto someone else.
In a dysfunctional family dynamic, the #narcissist parent sacrifices a “scapegoat” child for this function. 🧵 Narcissistic Parent
A narcissistic parent often has an inflated sense of self-importance, a deep need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others. These parents may struggle with feelings of inadequacy and self-loathing, which they are unable to acknowledge or accept consciously. Instead, they project these negative feelings onto the scapegoat child.

Scapegoat Child
The scapegoat child is the designated recipient of the narcissistic parent’s projected negative traits and feelings. This child is unfairly blamed for problems within the family and is often criticized, demeaned, and ostracized. The scapegoat is made to carry the burden of the family’s dysfunction, absorbing the negative emotions and characteristics that the narcissistic parent refuses to acknowledge in themselves.

Malignant #narcissist parents work viciously to train the self-respect out of their scapegoat child. Whenever the child asserts themselves or stands up for their rights, the parent will criticize, shame, or punish them, reinforcing the idea that expressing their own needs or desires is wrong. 🧵 As a result, the scapegoat child may develop low self-esteem, feelings of worthlessness, and a distorted sense of self. They may struggle with setting boundaries, asserting themselves in relationships, and trusting their own judgment.
In extreme cases, they might internalize the belief that they deserve mistreatment or that their feelings and opinions are not valid.
This can lead to long-term psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, and CPTSD.
The scapegoat child may also struggle with forming healthy relationships, both personally and professionally, as they may attract or tolerate further abuse from other narcissistic individuals.

The #narcissist will ignore what they did to provoke you, and focus only on your reaction to their abuse.
They’ll play the victim and act like your response to them was completely unprovoked.
This is a very typical abuse manipulation tactic we refer to as #ReactiveAbuse This is an expression of the narcissists exaggerated sense of entitlement and hypocrisy where they feel perfectly entitled to abuse but “heaven forbid” you respond to their abuse aggressively.

#NarcissisticAbuse is a vicious form of pathological abuse. Some say it is a covert form of murder, death by 1000 little cuts. These abuse tactics include:
Gaslighting
Projection
Triangulation
Hoovering
Silent treatment
Invalidation
Love-bombing
Future faking
Smear campaigns
Financial exploitation
Emotional blackmail
Coercive control
DARVO (Deny, accuse, reverse victim and offender)
Selective amnesia
Intellectual bullying
Identity erosion
Exploitation of Vulnerabilities
Manipulative praise
Minimization
Intermittent reinforcement
Weaponizing empathy
Gaslighting by proxy

The insidious nature of narcissistic abuse lies in its ability to erode the victim's self-esteem, identity, and autonomy over time, leaving lasting psychological scars. Victims of narcissistic abuse may experience complex trauma, anxiety, depression, and difficulty forming healthy relationships in the future. Some “commit suicide” although I don’t consider suicide as a result of abuse as suicide. I consider it murder by the perpetrator’s psychological erosion of the victim which leads to death.
Narcissistic abuse tactics can be varied and complex, and new tactics emerge as individuals adapt their behavior to maintain control over their victims.
Please read on for a comprehensive description of each of these abuse tactics: 🧵 •Gaslighting: Manipulating the victim's perception of reality, making them doubt their memories, feelings, or sanity.
•Projection: Blaming the victim for behaviors or traits that are actually characteristic of the abuser.
•Triangulation: Introducing a third party into the relationship dynamic to create jealousy, insecurity, or competition.
•Hoovering: Oscillating between idealization and devaluation to keep the victim emotionally invested and reliant on the abuser.
•Silent Treatment: Withholding communication, attention, or affection as a means of punishment or control.
•Invalidation: Dismissing the victim's thoughts, feelings, or experiences, making them feel unworthy or insignificant.
•Love-Bombing: Overwhelming the victim with excessive attention, affection, or gifts to gain their trust and dependence.
• Future faking: making promises or commitments about the future with no intention of following through.
•Smear Campaigns: Spreading false information or rumors about the victim to discredit them and isolate them from support networks.
•Financial Exploitation: Using the victim's financial resources for the abuser's benefit without regard for their needs or well-being.
•Emotional Blackmail: Threatening to withhold love, affection, or support unless the victim complies with the abuser's demands or desires.
•Coercive Control: Establishing dominance and control through various manipulative tactics such as isolation, surveillance, intimidation, and emotional abuse.

Sociopathic #narcissists thrive on attention. Particularly that of being a victim or a hero. This elevates their irrelevance in society up to quick relevance. In order to do this, they must find someone to vilify and they must make themselves out to be a victim. They will think about who they can scapegoat best. Who they can vilify. Who they can twist things around and make to look like a bad guy. This is their handicraft; Their career. Once they’ve decided to scapegoat somebody, they will take everything they can about this individual, especially innocuous harmless behaviors, and make it look offensive. This is the process. Then they will look for other people they can manipulate into agreeing with them that these innocuous behaviors are actually offensive and will try to convince them that they were also victimized by this designated scapegoat. Some people will be hard to convince, other narcissists will see what the head narcissist is up to and decide, “this is a good idea, we can get lots of attention if we make this person out to be “the bad guy””, and they quickly go along with the plan.
The bandwagon fallacy begins. This increases the strength of the false narrative. What we’re seeing is character assassination and organized gaslighting. The sacrifice of a scapegoat to satisfy the entitlement of sociopathic narcissists.

Covert #narcissists are obsessively skilled at being subtly abusive and acting like they are “just showing concern” or some other form of excuse. This is a carefully honed skill-craft where they very closely observe the limits of what they can get away with and ride that line like a razors edge, insidiously pushing it as far as they can.
This gives them a feeling of “Duper’s delight”. It fuels their ego, allowing them to feel as if they are “smarter than” the people they are duping. It is sociopathic and sadistic regardless of its subtlety. They might try to say that they’re “just being helpful” or “just showing concern”, but they will very subtly and intentionally be offensive JUST ENOUGH that they can play dumb or play innocent and still provoke some anger or contempt from other people. This is calculated. They’re hoping someone will get angry or offended at them and respond aggressively, then they can turn around and play a victim role. Remember what they do, they jump back-and-forth from being a saint to a victim. This is their little hobby. Their sick and sadistic form of entertainment.

Did your malignant #narcissist manipulator/abuser ever
write letters for you to read to get their point across? Mine would do that whenever they felt like they really needed to gaslight and manipulate reality around to their warped perspective.
Reading a letter a malignant narcissist writes to get their POV across is like being taken hostage and psychologically tortured by an insane person. The more you read, the more angry, insulted, and gaslit you become. They figure they can just write everything down the way they want you to see it, and by the time your done reading it, you’ll be completely brainwashed into seeing things their twisted, egomaniacal way. The last time mine gave me a letter to read, I had already learned my lesson and would have no part in going down another twisted rabbit hole of insanity like that again. I treat these letters like they’re infected with anthrax. Don’t even look at them. Writing letters provides them with a secure method of manipulation to control the entire “conversation” without any interruption. Like, here, read this whole thing without interruption. Follow this yellow brick road of insanity as far as you can. If you make it to the end of my egomaniacal warping of reality, ha ha, you’re an idiot and I now live rent free in your head.

Let’s talk about #Scapegoating
Scapegoating is a widely observed behavior among #narcissists, serving as a tool for them to deflect blame, assert control, divide and gain followers, and maintain a facade of superiority. This behavior can be observed in family dynamics, work places, government and politics, societal ethnic or cultural settings, schools and education, religious institutions, and media and public opinion.
Let’s elaborate: 1/5 WHY MALIGNANT NARCISSISTS SCAPEGOAT PEOPLE:
•Deflection: Narcissists employ scapegoating to shift their insecurities onto others, avoiding self-reflection and maintaining an inflated self-image.
•Sadism and Control: Malignant narcissists derive pleasure from inflicting pain, gaining a sense of power, and reinforcing their superiority complex.
•Gaining Followers and Dividing: Narcissists use scapegoating to attract followers by presenting themselves as the solution to a created problem. By manipulating situations, they create division within groups, gaining followers seeking guidance and direction, enhancing their influence and control.
•Maintaining Dominance: Scapegoating allows narcissists to retain authority by diverting attention from their own faults or mistakes, consolidating their position of power.
•Validation and Support: Labeling someone as "the problem" satisfies the primary narcissist and garners support from other narcissists and individuals seeking validation for their weaknesses, perpetuating the cycle of scapegoating.
•Transferring Accountability: Followers of the lead narcissist use scapegoating behavior to absolve themselves of responsibility by attributing their actions to the influence or direction of the lead narcissist, avoiding personal accountability.

When a malignant #narcissist identifies a target, either someone they dislike or feel threatened by, they’ll actively hunt for anything they can twist into a negative.
Even innocent or ambiguous actions will be interpreted negatively. 🧵#NarcissisticAbuse This selective and distorted interpretation of events is aimed at justifying their harmful actions or smearing their target's reputation.
Their perception is often skewed by their own insecurities, ego, or desire to maintain control over other’s’ perceptions.
Tactics involved👇

“But I have some nice memories with my #narcissist.”

This is how the #TraumaBond is created.
Intermittent “love” or “affection” amidst abuse trains the victim to want to please the narcissist, to try to bring back the “nice” times.
#NarcissisticAbuse 1/7 The intermittent reinforcement of positive and negative experiences with the abusive narcissist can create a rollercoaster of emotions, causing fluctuations in dopamine levels.
This can result in cravings for the abuser's validation, similar to addictive behaviors.