4 Communication Tactics Narcissists Use

Narcissists have the ability to dishonor you, while simultaneously claiming that they love you. Another word for a narcissist is, EMOTIONAL TERRORIST!

I know it would be childish to play this on the TV while they are actively giving me the silent treatment. But man do I really want to. 😊

The silent treatment can also be them going somewhere for a couple of days and not responding to your calls or text. When they feel you have suffered enough they return to your depleted self. Cruel? Absolutely! But it works….. until it doesn’t because you are done with their emotional and mental abuse. Then you go NO CONTACT. 😊

I LOVED it when my dad would employ the silent treatment. Then we could do as we pleased and he'd keep his mouth shut. No insults. No demands. No put downs. It was a reward in our(family) case it was wonderful.

I have ghosted more than one narcissist in my life and I have no regrets.

Silent treatment and stonewalling ride a very thin line to grey rocking. The difference is, the silent treatment feels petty, and the goal is to hurt you and get something. With grey rocking, the goal is to avoid chaos, arguments, gaslighting, and keeping the peace. While still being open to communication, you’re just keeping it short and uninteresting. Sometimes, people on the outside might view your grey rocking as narcissistic silent treatment or stonewalling. Because the narcissist will be recruiting them. Just letting you know, in these abusive situations you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Just leave if you can.

I guess the reality is that you can't in fact stop abuse, so the only option is to learn to recognize it and do whatever you can to keep distance, boundaries, and protect yourself. ❤❤❤ Thank you so much Dr. Ramani!!!!!!!!!!!!!👍

I have been ignoring the narcissist's silent treatment. I refuse to let him know it got to me when he first did it. Now I just act like everything is normal, I haven't even noticed it and am not hurt by his lack of response. I used to feel terrible and wind up apologizing for something I shouldn't have apologized for. Now I just focus on being happy and know I am a decent person who doesn't deserve to be ignored. I bring a lot to the table and am still happy to offer love and care to my friends. If he doesn't want to answer back it's his loss. I don't know if it's healthy - but I sure feel better.

As a victim, the silent treatment is probably one of the worst tactics a person can use. Nobody can read another persons mind and yet it seems like they expect you to and may throw a tantrum if you get the answer wrong 🙄

I am my moms caregiver because no other siblings will do it. She has been horrid our whole life. She did something 1 day to totally embarrass me to ppl in public, I came home and for the first time in 56 years I went off on her. She gave me the silent treatment for an ENTIRE YEAR! We live in the same house. It was the BEST year so far of having to care for her.

I think the silent treatment often comes from the narc feeling genuinely hurt and insulted when his or her demands are not met, as if you have done something seriously awful to them, like in a normal person, you kicked their puppy or something. I think the silent treatment is also an attempt of the narc to re-gain absolute control over communication when in active communication that control has slipped. All narcissistic behaviours in the end aim at controlling the victim.

"And tantrums are for children" geeze... that ... really hits so many actions they do

I would love to see you do a video on reactionary abuse. Someone who purposely pushes your buttons, does things that they know will traumatize, sabotage & gaslight for the reactions they get out of you. Someone who then convinces you & everyone around that YOU are bipolar, have anger & mental issues which causes you to become isolated. A short video on facebook about it actually opened my eyes to the fact that it had been happening to me for 20yrs. It could help someone else who believes there's something wrong with them when they're actually being abused & manipulated

Silent treatment is a form of emotional abuse because narcs know they have been caught and called out and they can't handle it so they go silent

I used to hate the silent treatment for the first few years, but now it's a gift. I actually really like it.

The worst part of this is, in my experience, when I make a conscious effort to communicate in a healthy respectful way, I feel like I'm being punished for it. It took me a long time, after becoming an adult, to realize that I wasn't a failure at communicating. Fact is that I was being forced to interact with an unhealthy form of communication by their cruel tactics growing up and gaslighted into thinking that I was the failure at communicating and consequently to blame for any escalation to a disagreement.

I chose to go no contact with a narcissist, they then continued to text me and ask "why are you giving me the silent treatment?" They acted as if I was punishing them. I just wanted to get away from their abusive behavior

The silent treatment can absolutely be a vacation

Thanks! I greatly appreciate your work. I am an adult child of a grandiose narcissist who is learning that i married a covert narcissist. You’ve been instrumental in helping me help myself and my children while we navigate this. God bless you.

That first tactic is actually heavily encouraged on social media, often under the guise of self care, and not tolerating "negativity". ANY disagreement is seen as negativity, rather than just a difference of views/opinion.