A term that victims of narcissists know all too well — In 2020 the word of the year was pandemic. 2021 it was vaccine. Up until 2022, each word chosen by Merriam-Webster was based on something culturally significant and often by a single event that drives curiosity (such as the pronoun “they” in 2019). This year, however, was different. There was…

Show me a narcissist and I’ll show you the worst kind of thief — A thief has three characteristics: first, a thief is not recognized by you as being a thief; second, he robs you of what you have without your realizing it at the time; and third, a thief leaves you feeling very foolish after you have been robbed. — N. Ravichandran Before…

He sure wants me to shut up though — Maybe “never” is too strong of a word. After all, my ex-husband has done far stupider things for which he’s never been held accountable, so being a narcissist and all, he just might be full of himself enough to make this last-ditch effort to shut me up. Not to mention…

It’s the loneliest you’ll ever be even when you’re not alone — There is a monumental difference between being lonely and being alone. The irony being that loneliness isn’t restricted to those who are alone and can be felt just as deeply in the presence of others. Especially if that “other” is a narcissist. Lonely (adj): sad because one has no friends…

When positive thinking turns toxic — I’d been diagnosed with PTSD. My anxiety was so bad I had to switch to decaf. I had stomachaches so debilitating I couldn’t leave the house. I’d been stalked, harassed, smeared, and abused by a narcissistic ex who vowed to punish me for divorcing him. …

Don’t blame single mothers for absent or abusive fathers — What comes to mind when you hear the term “broken home”? You think of a woman, don’t you. A single mom. Probably broke. Maybe on government assistance. Maybe working two jobs. Then you think of her kids. Probably boys. Probably troublemakers. Tsk tsk, society says. Those poor children, growing up…

When two plus two equals four only some of the time — “Wait…what?” I repeated the words over and over again during my marriage to a man who would later be diagnosed a narcissist. And over the years of coaching hundreds of others and helping them rebuild their lives after narcissistic abuse, these two words were the most common ones uttered by…

An old guy, his child bride, and their kid walk into a bar… — Dude please tell me you’re not joking because this is the best news ever… Since escaping my marriage to a diagnosed narcissist several years ago, I have gone out of my way to make sure I know nothing about his life after me. Mainly because the trauma is too much…

While you may feel love, that doesn’t make the relationship loving — Want to know why emotional abuse is so dangerous and destructive? It’s because it’s hard to see it for what it is. It sneaks up on you. You don’t recognize it at the beginning of a relationship because even if the signs are present, they’re subtle and quiet, making them…