by Conscious Reminder
More often than not, empaths tend to have the necessity to “heal” other people. They are drawn to those with emotional pain and this means that they are often drawn towards narcissists.
This can, however, prove to be very unhealthy, since narcissists are more interested in manipulating other people than they are in healing.
They enjoy the pain of others, which makes a relationship between a narcissist and an empath all the more toxic, unless the empath knows how to create boundaries to protect their own mental health.
Here is what happens when an empath and a narcissist share a relationship:
1. Imaginary connection
In such a relationship, there exists an imaginary connection between the narcissist and the empath. Usually, the empath imagines they have a strong emotional connection with the narcissist. In order to satisfy their own emotional needs, the empath does not even require the narcissist to do anything: they achieve fulfilment by simply being around their partner.
2. Affirmation by narcissist
After a while, the narcissist begins to affirm the fact that the imagined connection between them is real, and rather special. This causes the empath to further believe in this connection and invest emotionally as they believe that this connection is “once in a lifetime.” This makes it impossible to break free from the toxic relationship.
3. Empaths love to give
Empaths tend to believe in love, and they love to love. They begin to do everything to make their partner happy. But the more one gives to a narcissist, the more powerful the narcissist becomes. They become used to taking and giving nothing in return.
4. False sense of security
The narcissist does everything in their power to make the empath feel that everything is going well. But in reality, they make everything about themselves and seek constant validation from the empath.
5. Devaluation
Narcissists begin to devalue their empath partners. With time, the empath starts to feel less capable of doing things by themselves. The narcissist makes use of this to convince them that the empaths need them around in their life.
6. Narcissist takes control
The narcissist begins to take control of the relationship, as well as the empath. They start making decisions on behalf of the empath, further cementing the view that the empath is incapable of taking care of themselves.
7. Manipulation and mind games
The narcissist begins to manipulate the empath into thinking that they are not good enough and nobody else wants them. They make use of control mechanisms to make the empaths reliant on them for everything, which causes them to become depressed. They begin to believe that they are not worthy, and alienate themselves, relying solely on the narcissist. They become a completely different person.
8. Projection and mirroring
Because of how much time empaths begin to spend with their narcissist partners, they begin to adopt in their own selves the traits of the narcissist. They start to speak up for themselves and begin to realize what is good for them. This gives rise to conflict and the relationship eventually falls apart.
9. Transformation
The whole experience causes trauma to the empath, but they soon begin to heal, and use this experience to become wiser and learn how to protect themselves against the narcissists.
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