There may come a time when you feel you’ve truly had enough.
It can be really hard to have a rewarding relationship with someone whose main focus is him/herself.
And if your partner meets all the criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder, it’s impossible to ever have a healthy relationship with someone who abuses you!
You may have tried everything you could to help the relationship (and yourself) survive and you may have run out of ideas and energy. It’s very likely that your self-esteem has taken a complete nose-dive too (see: How to build your self-esteem).
So, know that it is okay to end the relationship if you need to.
After all, its success does need two people to commit and work together. It needs both of you to make the most of the fortunes and the challenges you face. And both partners need to contribute personal resources – as well as the joint ones – to make the relationship happy and healthy.
Get help!
You might be lucky enough to be surrounded by supportive friends and family.
If so, talk to them, and listen to their take on your relationship.
If not, or if you think you need professional advice and guidance, then I sooo recommend booking an appointment with a trained counsellor or another mental health professional (it’s now very easy to connect with an online counsellor).
A professional will be able to help you work through the issues you’re having right now. And they’ll be able to help you learn how to establish and maintain healthy boundaries so that you won’t find yourself caught in this trap again.
Remember, your mental health is at stake here. Your emotional, mental’ and spiritual well-being can be all too easily undermined by the lack of empathy in your partner.
Their sense of self-importance is likely to drown out your wants, needs and feelings (sometimes called narcissistic abuse).
This can potentially put you at risk of developing other mental ‘illness’ such as depression and anxiety.
Finally
Living- and dealing with a narcissistic husband, wife or partner can be exhausting and confusing.
You may well feel constantly ignored, criticised and unworthy (see my articles How to deal with criticism and How to deal with rejection). And that’s not what you deserve, nor is it good for your mental health!
So it’s time to think about whether or not this relationship is really right for you.
Put yourself first (for once!) and take the time to think about what you want – from your partner, yourself, and your life.
Get support if you need help while you’re making your decision. But always remember: you do deserve to be loved, cherished and to feel fulfilled.
