Narcissistic abuse is not just that someone dumped you or who you had a little tiff with them. It is psychological abuse and brainwashing using intermittent reward and punishment, coercive control, and withholding normal empathetic, emotional reactions to lower your self-esteem.
― Alice Little
All codependents believe that their narcissistic partner will realize their mistakes and finally give them the love, respect, and care they want and need. It just never happens.
Most narcissistic people often portray themselves as a commitment-phobe and claim to have a huge traumatic history behind it. They will tell you all kinds of stories like how their parents broke up or their ex-girlfriend or ex-wife broke their hearts and now they are just too damaged to commit. The commitment game, a classic example of mind games narcissists play while dating.
