When you’re in a relationship with a covert abuser, whether it be a narcissist or a pathological person, your body will know the situation isn’t right, long before your conscious mind does.
- You will feel anxious around this person.
- You have extreme separation anxiety.
- You end up walking on eggshells.
- You find yourself unable to sleep beside them.
- Sudden panic attacks.
- You begin having nightmares they’re trying to hurt you.
Whatever it may be, something within is signaling a lack of safety, warning you that you cannot trust them with your feelings, secrets, or needs.
There is uneasiness 24/7 and your body is screaming at you that there is something wrong.
And what happens is shift the blame onto yourself first. You instead believe there’s something wrong with you long way before you realize it’s actually them.
This is because we don’t go around assuming that we’re dealing with an abuser, at least in the beginning. We begin labeling our partner a narcissist. We fill in the gaps. We make excuses for them. We think they’re simply tired or they’re stressed at work. You might find yourself saying “They didn’t really mean that.”
