Initially, they may shower you with praise, making you feel special. However, once you fail to live up to their unrealistic expectations, they’ll belittle and devalue you.
12. Minimizing Your Successes
When you share an achievement, they might respond with indifference or sarcasm, saying things like, “Do you want a medal for that?”
13. Playing the Victim
Finally, narcissists love to play the “woe is me” card. If you hold them accountable, they’ll deflect with excuses rooted in self-pity, such as, “How can you criticize me after everything I’ve been through?”
The core of all these tactics is manipulation. Narcissists want to make you look unstable, difficult, or incapable while preserving their own image of superiority.
So, what can you do? The most important step is awareness. Recognize these behaviors for what they are: calculated attempts to control and destabilize you. Refuse to take the bait. Instead, focus on maintaining your dignity, self-respect, and emotional stability.
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