The Covert Narcissist Guide

Warning Signs of the Abuser You Never See Coming

When it comes to romantic relationships, resilient people have this one thing in common. Quite often, they don’t discover that they’ve been enduring actual abuse until their psychological resources are nearly depleted, which takes a great deal longer than others without their strength. It’s not that they don’t see signs or fail to identify toxic behavior. They simply have a knack for working around problems, rising above them, and pushing through them for the sake of achieving their relationship goals. In the meantime, these abusive relationships do take their mental, emotional, and physical toll. By the time a remarkably resilient person stumbles across an article or book, hears a podcast episode, or consults with a therapist who is able to accurately describe the dynamics of their abusive relationship and give it a label, they are mind-blown. After all, the ability to recover from difficulties or bounce back from problems more quickly than others is usually a helpful tool in life. However, it may make some of us even more vulnerable to certain unhealthy dynamics, patterns, and forms of abuse. One such form is narcissistic abuse. It’s important to explore the link between resilient and narcissistic partners because they are likely to pair up with each other, setting the stage for an abusive relationship. The true danger lies in the fact that the narcissist has ulterior motives from the start while their unsuspecting partner is unaware that manipulation will play a primary role throughout their relationship.

What is Narcissism?

You may have heard the word “narcissist” before or even used it to describe someone in your life. Due to the term’s mainstream popularity in recent years, many people understand narcissists to be grandiose individuals that think very highly of themselves, thrive on admiration from others, believe that they are superior to most, and use manipulation to get what they want. While these characteristics are common among narcissists, they only paint a small part of the picture. Narcissistic traits and behaviors are situated on a wide spectrum. Some individuals can be diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, which falls on one extreme end of the spectrum. Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a rare mental condition that occurs in both males and…