NPD?
Hey...can anyone please help me with figuring out whether i have NPD or not...i cannot consult a therapist right now because i am not yet financially independent and i dont have access to good therapists in the area where i live
The reason i am doubting this is:
I have been in relationship with smone from the last 6-7 years. That person cheated on me and lied to me multiple times. The cheating was first disclosed to me in 2020 i was devastated but my partner lacked empathy to even understand my pain...i tried understanding his side and gave another chance only to be cheated again in Dec 2021.Recently i got to know that i am being cheated continuously since 2018 and i was lied to many times in the last 4 years
I really doubt if that person is narcissist or i am
Some facts about that person(my ex) -he lacked empathy to feel or understand my pain when he cheated, had no remorse, even left me alone crying to handle stuff(silent treatment), he manipulated me many times, cheated and lied many times, even gaslighted me , keeps apologizing for bad done but kept doing wrng to me , dont know if he loves me but he says he wants to improve
Some facts about me - i just know one thing for sure about me that i am empathetic i put others before me, i was loyal and honest in this relation completely, i really loved this guy and tried understanding his side, i destroyed my career and lost me in this relation...there are days/weeks/months where i am numb not doing anything productive
But then what makes me feel i have NPD..so as per what i have read
1. I fantasize that someday i will be successful and i will have a healthy relationship with my partner as in fantasizing ideal love
2. I like being admired and have low self esteem now...sometimes i do feel uncomfortable but i like admiration
3.i expect my friends to help me when i approach them or reach out i expect them to take efforts for me but when they dont i just feel they dont care enough for me and i stop communicating and i dont hv any friend
4.i feel i am left far behind in my career and i do get jealous of people achieving more than me and people who are hard working bcz i hv literally stopped working or being productive for months now even if there is a deadline
5.i think i try to fill up the gap of not being successful or having wasted years by sometimes playing on the little knowledge i have
So my questions are
1.am i narcissistic or my ex is narcissistic or none of us
2.should i go back to this person?
(I keep going back to this person even after being treated wrong , if i try implementing no contact this persin contacta me from different numbers, email id's and i end up breaking no contact , i guess its trauma bonding and codependency but i dont know)
3.i have anxiety and panic of wasting years and wasting so many opportunities how to deal with this regret
PLEASE PLEASE HELP ME
@loyalPerson123
It sounds like you’re going through a lot.
I wondered often these same things. And I also experienced being financially unable to afford a good therapist, or have access to one due to location.
Being scared, angry or fearful in thinking one may have a condition or whatever that could impact their life is understandable, especially when that is on top of the other challenges you mentioned.
Staying as calm and joyful as possible is important for healing, growing and learning in a positive way and for handling whatever comes in a safe and humble manner, which creates more luck and abundance and wholeness.
What are some small actionable ways you could cultivate more joy? More peace? More contentment? It doesn’t ever need to be a huge shift right away. When one plants a seed, the plant isn’t grown the next day. Also, what have you been growing?
You see life’s like a garden. What weeds are growing? What have we been giving our attention to? By that I mean what thoughts and beliefs have we been cultivating to end up where we are?
This is RAINing - recognize and realize, accept and allow, inquire and investigate, nurture and nourish - on your garden.
Do this with carE - clear communication, award achievements, reward and recognition and EMPATHY. Empathy is capitalized as it’s the foundation for the rest of the word.
Here’s your homework:
1. Keep planting the seeds you wish to grow.
2. Keep pulling the weeds you no longer need.
3. RAIN with carE.
Questions?
@Dallady this is probably the best advice thank you so much...i will definitely do this homework consciously and work on me...thanks a lott for guiding me..it means a lot to me
@loyalPerson123
I’m glad you found my insights helpful.
If you have any questions, write them down or try find a way to remember them, otherwise they can disappear quick as a wink, and feel free to ask me or another listener anything that comes to mind if you want. Don’t hurry, don’t fuss, don’t worry about it, what’s important will naturally make itself known. And the emotions that rise and fall, they are the waves of the ocean of you. Only you’re not just the ocean. You’re that which observes the ocean.
Please don’t be discouraged if things don’t move right away. That’s the thing with this type of stuff...it never seems to be doing squat until suddenly you wake up a decade later living a life you couldn’t have even dreamed possible.
Also, don’t feel you have to listen to what I say. I’m by no means a guru or life coach or professional of any kind, unless you count being a professional failure something.
Remember you’re free to choose what you think and believe, and you’re ALLOWED to deny things that don’t suit you at any given time for whatever reason. No one has authority over you but YOU. This may seem upsetting because someone or something or somewhere hurt us in the past. Slow down and let go - do some deep breathing or go for a brisk walk. Do anything to remind yourself of who and what you are - a divine and precious eternal being experiencing a marvellous earthly experience across a mysterious and majestic time and space.
The interesting thing about our journey is they are never linear, never ending, never mind. They are always okay, no matter what. Believe in yourself. Not because someone told you to, but because you exist, like a tree. That’s the thing...it may not seem like it: For a while I thought I was perhaps a ghost, or something. That I truly wasn’t seen or seeable. I thought I didn’t even exist. That was just part of the process for me. Diving into nothingness to experience its opposite and allowing it to make me stronger, wiser and more courageous, as we live in a world of duality- night and day, black holes and suns, nothing and everything.
It may be confusing in our world of electric lights and opinions and pressure to be, do and act a certain way. That’s where the higher levels of emotion step in to fill the opposing void - gratitude, joy, love, enthusiasm, excitement. This swinging can be intense, uncomfortable and even feel wrong at first as one finds their rhythm. We’re still only about a century into REALLY understanding our brains, and many still can’t handle it, including professionals, who deal with burn out as well.
So do your homework. See if you can’t also do one kind thing to yourself and another every day...perhaps a smile to someone you don’t know, or a wave at a barista or compliment to yourself in the mirror. Learn about boundaries. Read about people who turned their life around. Even thinking good thoughts and sending makes a massive change. Athletes, politicians, lawyers - anyone in an elite positions also knows of the power of positive visualization and the wondrous connection between our body and mind. Make a vow to stop all criticism. Decide to live. Any acts such as this reinforces our true nature - one of beauty, heart and prosperity and abundance, and allows us to grow positively, becoming an example for all and honouring our ancestors and ourselves who only want us to be content and serene and peaceful.
Hope that makes sense. It makes more sense the more one looks into it. At first it can all sound like an absolute and utter load of uselessness. So take it easy. Because boy, take it from me...we can really, really hurt ourselves taking it hard. Only it doesn’t seem hard because it’s all we know so begin at the end and in the end we will know how to begin.
@Dallady wow..this is really so deep..trust me i read the entire text multiple times to take note of things and that sums it up...in the sense that it makes me see a broader / a bigger picture than the issue i am facing...i really appreciate you for writing this to me..i saved this text in my mail and wrote RAIN CARE on a paper pasted it in my room . Thank you for being so kind and helping me understand things from a bigger spectrum ...making me feel that the issues i m facing are just a small part of life that will in the end improve me to become a better person
It's possible you may have codependency not NPD. I hope this helps.
There is a difference between them.
[Edited by QuietMagic 4/11/22 per subcommunity guidelines on language/labeling. See the section “Guidelines to follow when explaining a personality disorder”.]