When a victim of narcissistic abuse begins to reclaim control of their lives using a variety of strategies, it contradicts the narcissist’s sense of specialness, activates their fears of inadequacy and abandonment, and drastically limits the quantity of narcissistic supply available to them.
They’ll employ manipulative tactics like hoovering and baiting to keep you caught within the abusive cycle in order to stay in control, preserve their phony public image, and avoid being “abandoned.”
Hoovering Examples
- I swear I’ve changed.
- It was meant to be just you and me against the world!
- Really? You’re going to abandon me just as I start going to therapy?
- Nobody else can love you as much as I can.
Baiting
You’ll ultimately be able to detect some narcissistic behavior patterns and employ tactics like gray rocking, setting boundaries, or even no contact to recover your identity and maintain your emotional health given enough time and/or assistance.
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