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Signs You Are Being Manipulated by a Narcissist
Narcissists refer to persons with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD).
NPD is a mental health condition.
Truthfully, support for narcissistic people is encouraged as they are people like us, and they do not also have it all rosy for them.
They may not intentionally keep trying to be malicious.
They just do not know how to respect your boundaries due to their own issues.
Being in a relationship with a narcissist can mentally drain you as they are willing to exploit others for personal gain and always expect preferential treatment and automatic compliance with their demands.
Some of the types of narcissistic manipulation include scapegoating, hoovering, triangulation, silent treatment, and passive aggression.
They employ these tactics to cajole you into doing their bid most times by instilling fear in you.
It is not easy to identify a narcissistic person before entering a relationship with one as they are very pretentious and they are most times very loving and charming but change over time.
This makes it difficult for people to believe you when you express what you are going through.
This also places a doubt in your mind as to who they really are.
What are the signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist?
Some of the signs include a lack of boundaries and gaslighting.
These signs are commonly exhibited by narcissists.
They always want to be in your space.
They would also constantly want you to doubt your own perspective and reality.
Other signs are a loss of self-esteem, triangulation and bullying, intimidation, and threats.
Most times, narcissists reduce your self-esteem and create anxiety and self-doubt in you.
They also bully and intimidate you as well as issue threats just to ensure that they have their way.
The following are the signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist.
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Lack of Boundaries
Narcissists always like to be in your space.
Boundaries are strange to them.
When you try to set or enforce limits, they might challenge them, completely ignore them, or give you silent treatment until you do what they want.
Eventually, you might give up on your boundaries entirely.
A healthy relationship is characterized by freedom and choice and not about control or making people feel obligated.
Once you notice that there is a lack of boundaries in your relationship, this is definitely one of the signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist.
If you have experienced narcissistic abuse, you may also have trouble setting healthy boundaries in your relationships with others.
Typically, for people to survive a relationship with a narcissistic person, they must learn to enforce healthy boundaries.
Gaslighting
When someone gaslights you, they make you doubt your own perspective and reality.
They would change the facts and insist that what you claim to remember didn't actually happen.
The end effect is that you doubt your decision-making abilities.
Also, narcissists feel that they are always right.
When confronted about mistakes, they will be defensive and might deny your reality or recollection of events.
Narcissists tend to adopt this mode when they feel a loss of control in a relationship.
In turn, this can sometimes lead to narcissistic abuse syndrome, especially if it is combined with other forms of narcissistic abuse.
Gaslighting can be very confusing and frustrating, leaving you feeling like you're going insane. They would make you feel like you are only being paranoid and overreacting.
They gaslight you to manipulate you and have their way.
Bullying, Intimidation, and Threats
Narcissists often bully and intimidate people.
To further get their way, they threaten you if you push back on their demands.
They tend to discredit your person and instill fear in you to have their way.
Narcissists always want to have their way and they do not like when people refuse them.
When you refuse them, they are ready to resort to bullying, intimidation, and threats to get their desire.
A narcissist will often refuse to take responsibility for anything, they can threaten you and make you feel like you're at fault.
Narcissists intimidate you to cause fear.
They also use it to manipulate you and cause you more confusion within your own mind laced with threats When you are scared of someone, you would most likely do their bidding.
If you are in a relationship with someone who is a bully, constantly threatens you, and intimidates you to get what they want, you are most likely in a relationship with a narcissist.
These are one of the signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist.
Loss of Self Esteem
Once you notice that you are losing your self-esteem, you are most likely being manipulated as this is one of the signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist.
Narcissists are typically self-involved and self-absorbed and tend to ignore other people's feelings.
A lot of narcissists target individuals with low confidence and courage.
Most times, people in relationships with narcissists have damaged self-esteem as constant interactions with narcissists would affect your self-esteem.
Over time, you will realize that you would tend to change your personality to fit the preferences and expectations of the narcissist so as to please the narcissist.
There is also going to be a constant feeling that you are not enough or that you are wrong, or that you caused the abuse.
This can lead to shame and embarrassment.
Triangulation
Triangulation is the use of divide and conquer.
It basically refers to where persons make use of threats of manipulation or exclusion.
Once you notice these tactics being used on you, then you are likely being manipulated.
It is typical for narcissists to use this method due to their insecurity.
Narcissists would deliberately cause conflict by pitching you against your rival or creating a rival for you.
Some partners deliberately bring another person into the relationship to cause jealousy, friction and misunderstanding.
The narcissist on the other hand would enjoy the fight for attention.
When in such a situation, it is advisable not to react as this would give satisfaction to the narcissist.
Conclusion
The signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist are not always glaring.
Narcissists sometimes do not intentionally keep trying to be malicious therefore therapy for narcissistic people is greatly encouraged.
Some signs you are being manipulated by a narcissist are a lack of boundaries, a loss of self-esteem, gaslighting and bullying, intimidation, and threats.
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