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The Narcissist Requires Enmeshment
My confidence exposed them. I had not considered that exposing their greatest fear would enrage them and bring on my slaughter…
In a relationship with a narcissist, you are not an individual. You do not have your own thoughts, feelings, beliefs, opinions, and aspirations. Anything that makes you unique is methodically quashed and replaced with the narcissist's simulated reality.
When one person in a relationship believes that they have a right to define, dictate, and control the other person's agency this is called enmeshment. In an enmeshed relationship, whether romantic or parental, boundaries overlap in an unhealthy, parasitical manner.
You become defined by the narcissist and they truly believe that everything you do is about them.
This is Not Your Average Tight-Knit Relationship.
Enmeshment is not the same thing as two individuals being in a close relationship. Intimate connections are a wonderful part of life and often allow for appropriate autonomy within the relationship. Enmeshment, however, becomes a problem because the individual involved relinquishes their own identity. Narcissists prevent the independence needed in order to grow emotionally and…
