Three Devious Tactics Your Narcissistic Partner Will Use To Gain Control Over You (And How To Respond)

The truth is, we all possess some narcissistic traits, and they are natural, and honestly, they’re necessary. Without them, we’d have self-esteem issues and a poor image of ourselves. However, there are people who are on the other side of the spectrum and they’re extremely difficult to handle.

These people are entitled, self-centered, conceited, and manipulative. They don’t appreciate other people and show tolerance of their opinions. When it comes to their relationships, their inflated self-esteem and lack of concern regarding the effects of their behavior on their partner make narcissists the worst partners.

Narcissists are unable to fully and emotionally connect with someone and establish healthy, meaningful, stable, loving relationships. All they care about is how to gain power over you and control you.

At the beginning of the relationship, they’re kind, compassionate, and loving so as to make you believe they’re good and worthy of your love.  Then as time passes and their mask falls down, they begin to reveal their true colors. They start criticizing and manipulating you to the point where you start thinking you’re irrelevant, weak, and unworthy.

Fortunately, you can effectively deal with these manipulative, draining people, but first, you need to be able to recognize the three devious tactics your narcissistic partner will use to gain control over you:

1. They’ll make you think nothing you do will ever be good enough.

No matter how hard you try to please them and how kind you are towards them, they’ll never appreciate your efforts. The reason they do this is obvious – they want to keep you seeking their approval, but of course, you’ll never receive it.

They’ll always find something to complain about. They can call you “too emotional” and “clingy”. They can even criticize your appearance. For example, they won’t be ashamed to tell you something like: “Look at yourself. You’ve gained so much weight, you better do something about it.”

Oh, and yeah, they can even criticize your educational qualifications and profession. It’s simple – nothing you are and nothing you do will ever be good enough for them.

By treating you this way, the narcissist will wreck your confidence and self-esteem and ensure you do whatever they want you to. In order to counteract this devious tactic, stop trying to please them and meet their demands. Take control over your own life.

2. They’ll detect your vulnerabilities.

Narcissists are skilled at detecting other people’s vulnerability like they have a sixth sense. They can simply look at your facial expressions or listen to the tone of your voice and they’ll know you feel insecure and vulnerable. The thing is that when you feel this way, you tend to talk more calmly and quietly and avoid making direct eye contact.

Being vulnerable makes you an easy target for them. They’ll manipulate you so as to make you so attached to them and invested in the relationship that it’ll be impossible for you to get out. They’ll make you lose your sense of self.

The only way you can put an end to this torture is by committing to yourself and your recovery.

3. They’ll isolate you from your loved ones and then use the silent treatment on you.

Once the honeymoon phase is over, the narcissist will start blaming your family and friends for all your relationship problems. They’ll blame your mother for giving you bad advice and interfering with the relationship and your best friend for being too nosy. They’ll do anything which is in their power to poison your mind and turn you against the people who are close to you.

Once they cut your loved ones out of your life and ensure you no longer have emotional support, they’ll become overly critical and they’ll regularly give you the silent treatment. This cruel behavior can’t be anything but a damage to your mental and emotional well-being.

To protect yourself, you’re left with only one option – detach yourself completely from them. Get out of there and never look back.