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Mental health experts estimate that up to five percent of individuals have narcissistic personality disorder. Given that figure, there’s a good chance you’ll come across many narcissists in your lifetime. At this moment, you might work with one, be neighbors with one, or have an even more intimate relationship with one. Interacting with narcissists on a surface level, and infrequently, might be something a healthy person can manage, without being too impacted. But should you wind up in an intimate, romantic relationship with a narcissist, it can cause some long-term damage that needs to be assessed and healed.
Though narcissism is just one of 10 identified personality disorders, there’s something particularly unique about a narcissist that makes them dangerous to others: they’re psychological geniuses. While narcissists may not entirely understand their own flaws or how their minds work, they do understand how other people operate very well — and they can take advantage of that. Aria Craig, board-certified holistic mental health coach and bestselling author, spoke to us about how being with a narcissist changes a person and how to recover if you’ve experienced that type of relationship.
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All you see is him
“With narcissists, it’s almost psychological and emotional abuse,” says Craig. “There are feelings of inadequacy. You lose yourself because everything you’re doing is to support the relationship. You pour yourself into your partner. Narcissists are very insecure and they are controlling, so there is a level of manipulation that they have over their partner…let’s say it’s a man manipulating a woman. He has a level of control over his partner to the point that she has on blinders.”
