{"id":21391,"date":"2024-06-17T11:15:45","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T10:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/?p=21391"},"modified":"2024-06-17T11:17:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T10:17:00","slug":"what-does-silence-do-to-a-narcissist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/what-does-silence-do-to-a-narcissist\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Silence Do to a Narcissist?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

When a narcissist sits in a silence they didn\u2019t create – they can\u2019t stand it<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They shift in their seats, clear their throats and even resort to completely raging out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silence is not acceptable to them. What will they feed off if nobody is giving them anything?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s everybody quiet for? What do I do in this situation? Am I being figured out?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it\u2019s your <\/em>silence?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They love it!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s the difference though?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Control!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s look a little deeper\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What the Narcissist <\/strong>Craves<\/em><\/strong><\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Narcissists don\u2019t want you to throw the silent treatment their way, instead, they want to be the ones to give it to you. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their craving to be in control comes from the power they feel they have the right to exert over you. Narcissists want everything to go their way, and you do not <\/em>have a say in the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, in the long run that\u2019s going to cause so much harm to your emotional and mental health – but the narcissist isn\u2019t going to care about that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not Giving Them Attention<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what happens when you flip the script?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You decide one day to be the one who gives the narcissist the silent treatment. You are the one who says to yourself, \u201cYou know what? Enough is enough. I\u2019m done trying to please you. You don\u2019t deserve my voice any more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power of silence is severely overrated, so when it comes to narcissists, silence can act as a powerful weapon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s your best option for clawing back that control, and taking it away from these energy vampires. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting to the point where you resort to the silent treatment will likely come from a place of desperation. You\u2019ve tried everything to reason with them. You\u2019ve attempted and after attempt to quell conflict. You\u2019ve asked a thousand times if they\u2019re okay when they refuse to engage with you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you do now?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You deprive them of any attention. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By this, I don\u2019t mean to join them at what they are at their level<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your silent treatment has to come from a place of clarity. A place of empowerment and sincerity. You aren\u2019t looking to treat them with the same disdain they show you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You have simply had enough of their drama. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your Silence: What it Does to the Narcissist in 6 Ways<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It Takes Away Their Control<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Narcissistic people thrive when they are pulling the strings. If you are in a place of fear or anxiety, they are at their happiest. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those intense feelings are provoked when we feel out of control or want to regain control in a situation. If a narcissist is taking from you, they are leaving you with nothing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Giving the silent treatment to the narcissist is a way of channeling the energy once stolen from you, and claiming it back. It\u2019s a powerfully self-satisfying tool to use when you want what\u2019s owed. Without that control, they almost malfunction. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Narcissists laugh and smile to themselves when they have succeeded in confusing you, or punishing you with their silence. When it\u2019s returned to them, that control immediately vanishes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invokes Rage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With anything the narcissist is no longer able to control, the rage will soon follow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How dare you ignore me!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who do you think you are?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You\u2019re a terrible person!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the words that act as wood kindling to stoke your fire will be thrown at you. They want you to respond. They want you to break your vow of silence. They want to see you break <\/em>under their pressure. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Underneath it all, they\u2019re looking for you to come back and resume normal dynamics, because without a victim mentality, they cannot act as the antagonist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re non-responsive, they cannot feed off you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It Creates Helplessness<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

With no control, the narcissist soon becomes helpless – an emotion they are unable to sit in for long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Helplessness and narcissism do not <\/em>go hand in hand, so this is where you should expect the narcissist to ramp up their game-playing. Still looking for you to bite their bait, they will try anything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starving Them of Compliments<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where you would have once gushed over their day or new jack\/hair\/job – you\u2019ve suddenly got nothing to say. It\u2019s not that you intended on being rude, it\u2019s that you prefer to disengage with the dysfunction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now when they come to you in \u201cLook at me\u201d moments, you are choosing to look the other way and starve them of what they once may have gotten from you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now <\/em>what do they do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your once Grade A narcissistic supply was finite all along – and without it they are going to crumble. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ways they\u2019ve exploited you have come round to haunt them, and the more consistently you hold the silence, the more you are ending this game\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once and for all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They Miss Your Begging<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One thing to learn about narcissists is when they <\/em>give you <\/em>the silent treatment, they absolutely love <\/em>the way you come begging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please! What did I do wrong? <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can I fix it?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What can I do to make you feel better?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tell me how I can make it up to you.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s wrong?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you okay?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it me?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No more giving them the attention. No more dishing out unnecessary apologies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to ask any more, and that\u2019s why you started going silent. You don\u2019t need to ask what you can do, because you now know nothing works. The narcissist has played you countless times in the past, and finally, you are giving yourself the space to see it\u2019s not your fault. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your peace and freedom from being silent is their hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They Discard You – For Good<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s the start of something great when a narcissist decides to discard you for good. Nothing you\u2019ve previously tried has worked, but you want them to lose interest in you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silent treatment lets them know directly <\/em>that they don\u2019t matter. YOu want to live your life and be free. You don\u2019t want to see them, they aren\u2019t on your radar, and you\u2019re through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The silent treatment is letting them know you have a life to live that doesn\u2019t involve them being in it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The discard may not happen immediately, but make no mistake\u2014it will happen, and you will feel lighter and burdenless as soon as those ties are cut. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the discard has occurred, keep going in that same direction, and never look back. You don\u2019t want the narcissist to think you made a terrible mistake!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When a narcissist sits in a silence they didn\u2019t create – they can\u2019t stand it.  They shift in their seats, clear their throats and even resort to completely raging out. Silence is not acceptable to them. What will they feed off if nobody is giving them anything? What\u2019s everybody quiet for? What do I do … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21475,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21391"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21477,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21391\/revisions\/21477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thenarcissisticlife.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}