 Abuse loves to lurk in darkness. Shine a spotlight on it and holy crap! It screams like one of those baby mandrakes in Harry Potter. Pull it out of the darkness and murk of its lovely dirt…and it goes straight to its attorney.
That’s what happened to me, folks. It didn’t come as any surprise, really. I knew my abusers’ attorney was lurking on my site, sniffing around, but hey! Who knew my tight-ass relatives would actually spend a few hundred of the precious $40k they got from me to actually take action. Wowza! That’s one for the history books. Click here for the whole story. But cover your ears! Those baby mandrakes are doin' some screamin'! To donate to my legal defense, please click here. And thank you!
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 Tredding the path of narcissism research, a bunny trail led off into the underbrush. A signpost said “Cult Lane.” Naturally, I turned off the beaten path to follow the bunny trail. I mean, who wouldn’t!? And I’m so glad I did.
Light glimmered when I read on house-of-mirrors.blogspot.com, “Growing up in a family of narcissists is akin to being raised in a cult.” Fascinating shit! On hands-and-knees, I scrambled along the bunny trail as it led deeper into the thicket. “..The techniques of manipulation and control used by narcissistic parents are the very same techniques used by narcissistic and psychopathic cult leaders,” according to http://www.decision-making-confidence.com/narcissistic-parents.html Curiouser and curiouser! Scratched by briars, I forged ahead. Suddenly, the trail ended in a faery ring. The sunshine blinded me and suddenly…all was clear…thanks to the International Cultic Studies Association and “Cult 101.” It turns out there are a set of attributes that describe most cults wordwide. They all have the same traits, regardless of doctrine. And whaddya know! Narcissistic families have the same traits as a cult! Mine sure did!  I honor the millions who heroically battle cancer, determined to live life to its fullest and flip cancer the bird. Unfortunately, narcissists aren’t always among this valiant throng. Give a narcissist cancer (or any ailment) and he’ll exploit it to the max, making everyone’s life a micro-managed living Hell along the way. I know. I was there.
Narcissists are well-known for faking heart attacks or claiming imaginary ailments, so when a real one comes along….holy crap! It’s like a dream come true for them. Read all about it on my PsychCentral blog! Click here!  Lately, the World Wide Web has exploded with articles about narcissism. The shenanigans of characters like Donald Trump and Kanye West have inspired writers worldwide to dip their quill in the narcissism inkwell.
But what if narcissism isn't what we assume it is? Yes, narcissists project an über-confident, egotistical image but most researchers believe this is merely a smokescreen to disguise extremely low or even non-existent self-esteem. It's kinda hard to put narcissism into words, so I thought why not demonstrate it because actions speak louder than words. With thanks to my Facebook friends for sharing all of these real-life scenarios from their lives.
To read the whole article on HuffPost, please click here!  Reading old emails exchanged with my captors makes me sick. Nauseated. Loquacious lovey-dovey’s and toe-curling coo’s drip from our email conversations. The contrast between our communication back then is in stark contrast to the barbs and silences now. It’s contradictory. Crazy-making. Stockholm Syndrome overwhelmed me again last night, wracking my frame with guttural sobs. As tears poured down my cheeks, a voice I barely recognized as my own cried, “What did I do that was so bad? What happened to all the love? Why did they do all this shit to me? Did they ever love me at all? Did I ever truly love them? Did they ever have empathy for me?” Click here to find out! Lenora Thompson writes a great blog...she's been there, seen that, and lived to tell the tales. - Facebook friend  Bed bugs: mother’s latest paranoiac fad. Her home’s gonna’ get infested with the little devils. She’s sure of it.
Mother’s paranoia is nothing new. She’s been this way all my life. And her mother is a paranoiac, controlling narcissist too. Together they form a hysterical duo, collecting and trading dangers like some people trade baseball cards. Their “Danger Scrapbook” is second-to-none, bulging with terrors of every description. Oddly enough, none of these horrors have ever befallen them…nor anyone else in the family. Nevertheless, reality never stopped them from foisting dangers of every kind onto me. And only because they love and care about me, right!?Ah, I remember well the first time their paranoia struck me as, well, odd. Maestro? Flashback harp music, please. If you need a good laugh today, just click here! http://blogs.psychcentral.com/narcissism/2016/03/paranoiac-parents/  There's a famous cliche: "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it is a frickin' duck." And if it looks like jealousy, walks like jealousy and talks like jealousy, it is frickin' jealousy.
Of course, I couldn't believe it myself! Who would? What normal parent would be insanely jealous of their own child?! I never expected it and I certainly didn't want it. But there it was: jealousy. As plain as the nose on my face. It all started just after puberty. I was fourteen when Mom first accused me of trying to "be cute" (translation: seductive) for my own father. Two years later, it was Dad who turned green around the gills. Click here to read my newest Huffington Post article, Parents Who Are Jealous of Their Kids. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/lenora-thompson/parents-jealous-of-their-kids_b_9391452.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-parents  Narcissists do and say the funniest things.
Well, it’s only funny from a safe distance when not aimed at you! So, I thought, why not compile the funniest, the craziest, the furthest-out and most flabbergasting things narcs have said and done!? Comedian Jeff Foxworthy is renowned for his signature comedy line, “If (insert redneck trait)…you might be a redneck.” One of my favorites is, “If you have an engine hangin’ in your tree…you might be a redneck!” So I thought, why not gather tales in the same format: “If (fill-in-the-blank-with narcissist’s-shenanigans)…you might be a narcissist.” Thanks to the many subscribers and Facebook friends who generously shared their true-life “If…Then” tales for this article. They didn’t make any of this up. You can’t! You can’t make this shit up. Each one of these scenarios is 100% true. Click here if you need a good, belly laugh to break the narcissist's power! http://blogs.psychcentral.com/narcissism/2016/03/if-then-narc-1/  “At the name of {narcissism} each one of the children felt something jump…inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.” Ah, forgive me for paraphrasing the great C. S. Lewis from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe. But that’s how it is when you first learn about “narcissism,” isn’t it? You either feel liberated…or angry.
That moment came and went for my Family-of-Origin this week when they finally found my website and blogs. Oh, it took them ages to find it. Their uncharacteristic lack of curiosity was most vexing. But they finally found it. Click here to read the whole story!  From time to time, all of us are faced with our own humanity, the painful consciousness of being less-than-perfect. Even narcissists are blind-sided by these moments.
But they know how to deal with them!
It's called Projection. All narcissists do it. And it really, really stinks! Read my article about Projection on Family Tree Counseling's site by clicking here! http://www.familytreecounseling.com/marksblog/?p=9398 |