Overcome Narcissist Aftermath: Your Grief is Shared Fantasy, too!

Grieving in the wake of narcissistic abuse is a fantasy. We mourn the shared fantasy via a fantasy of grief.
We internalize the narcissist’s snapshot of us which started off as a mental representation of reality and then became an idealized, fantastic, constant, internal object. We do it to both please the narcissist and to answer the question: what does he want from me? (Lacan’s neurotic fantasy).
Self-contained vs. incorporating fantasy: reality repressed or reframed (cathected fiction, symbols, signifying structure), involves compensatory wish fulfillment (future) or reconstruction (past): erotic, aggressive, self-aggrandising, ego-syntonic, soothing (defensive, to avoid trauma, Lacan), and experimental (testing out scenarios safely).
In a shared fantasy, these roles are outsourced, allowing for passivity and a sense of safety and stability. In this sense, the intimate partner in a shared fantasy is rendered a borderline.
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Пікірлер: 247

  • @leiamorris4947
    @leiamorris49475 ай бұрын

    It’s beyond a death because it’s a shocking realization that the person you loved never even existed. Thanks for this video.

  • @l3lackoutsMedia

    @l3lackoutsMedia

    3 ай бұрын

    The next step in line that it was a warped version of yourself is even weirder.

  • @Brilliant42
    @Brilliant423 ай бұрын

    "Accepting the demise of the shared fantasy is one of the most traumatic imaginable human experience" : Thank you mr Vaknin. Really, honestly, gratefully THANK YOU.

  • @Julia-ej4jz
    @Julia-ej4jz9 ай бұрын

    It took me 3 years to mourn and go through the stages of grief. Sadly, there were very little people around me that understood me or wanted to support me. Some people even blamed ME for the abuse claiming that I was stupid, naive etc. Even psychologists could not really help me with my grief. Only time helped me.

  • @dreambig4557

    @dreambig4557

    8 ай бұрын

    ⁠@@parklady4233sorry to hear that. Can I know why do you say a child's discard? And how have you been trying to Cope? Did you have to fight trauma bond?

  • @user-zm5ql6yt8u

    @user-zm5ql6yt8u

    7 ай бұрын

    No Pun Intended - Good Grief! I needed this. Thank You!

  • @dreambig4557

    @dreambig4557

    7 ай бұрын

    So sorry to hear that. So sad that even professional therapists weren't helpful. Did you turn to any addictive behaviour to cope?

  • @Julia-ej4jz

    @Julia-ej4jz

    7 ай бұрын

    @@dreambig4557 Yes, compulsive eating.

  • @pamgodsoe9076

    @pamgodsoe9076

    7 ай бұрын

    I have only been out two months of a 33 year marriage. The pain is so bad some days. I am glad that my spouse is happy I am gone. I makes my decision easier

  • @Julia-ej4jz
    @Julia-ej4jz9 ай бұрын

    Nobody wants to be around a grieving person and the grieving person tends to isolate himself because he is ashamed of his prolongued grief. Grief is not accepetd in the society. "You should pull yourself together and move on as quyickly as possible"! Grief is considered to be a weakness and a flaw of character. I heard some people say to me "You just enjoy the state of grieving, you don't want to come out of it".

  • @butterflygirl3359
    @butterflygirl33599 ай бұрын

    I could not get over the “shape shifting”, “fits you like a glove” description. My ex narcissist used to do something called “the octopus” where he would completely cover me with his body and, literally, move over every part of me like a “second skin”. It was intoxicating because I was so in love with him and I felt absolutely that we were becoming one. I can recall him holding my face and staring into my eyes with tears streaming down his face and professing such undying love for me. Such idealization! I recall him presenting me with 2 8x10 sheets of paper covered with positive adjectives and telling me I was every single one of them. He tattooed my name on his pelvis. And I fell for all of it. And he emotionally tortured me, devalued and discarded me over and over again for 17 years. My life became a nightmare. I am still in the process of “skinning myself” to get out of this and I hope I make it out alive.

  • @zarvanirani6595

    @zarvanirani6595

    6 ай бұрын

    i had a uncannily similar situation

  • @LeightonGrows

    @LeightonGrows

    6 ай бұрын

    My ex did something so similar too!!

  • @user-wx8fg9jp9z

    @user-wx8fg9jp9z

    6 ай бұрын

    كن قويا 😢❤

  • @VeeeBeee

    @VeeeBeee

    5 ай бұрын

    Similar

  • @audreyandrea460

    @audreyandrea460

    3 ай бұрын

    Keep up the good work, researching and expressing yourself, you can do this, I’m praying for you 🙏💜

  • @user-yz9fq4zh5w
    @user-yz9fq4zh5w3 ай бұрын

    This was so healing! I finally understand the bizarre dynamics. Every single word you said was exactly what happened to me. I think the hardest part was how euphoric i felt in the shared fantasy. He woke up parts of my soul i never knew existed. We would lock eyes and he would tell me "its all ok now Michele, your safe with me" I will love you and take care of you forever". I melted into his body and never felt so loved. My childhood wounds where finally healed for those years until devaluation emerged gradually. I spent 11 years in this confusion and he never discarded me or hoovered. Just long long silent treatments, moving away, blocking me. But i always begged to work it out. I even offered friendship as long as we could still be connected. I begged him with my life to not shut me out and he said ok and i remained in the fantasy. He was slowly disconnecting and i felt it. I panicked and told him im moving on please dont call me anymore. He said ok. Its been several months and im getting stronger everyday. No more abuse, no more confusion. I have a long road but i never want back into his world.

  • @melbee4848

    @melbee4848

    Ай бұрын

    I feel so confused too bc I was never discarded. He still wants to be with me and all this stuff. I’m like when did u discard me? It’s so confusing

  • @debbyjoy3
    @debbyjoy34 ай бұрын

    I feel like I died but I am walking around watching my body exist. This is pain like I have never experienced. Thank You Sam. I am holding on to " you will be ok"...Oh God I hope that is true.

  • @christinamichellephotograp8728

    @christinamichellephotograp8728

    27 күн бұрын

    You will. I promise. One day you will be happy and be able to look back to see how terrible it was. I have been there and I didn't believe I would ever look back and not want him or us. It happened for me and now I am free. You will find yourself again. Just like they can never love and operate on so many functions they don't have control of - you do this too and one of those functions is reviving yourself. You can't mess that up. It will happen and one day you will go outside and it won't seem surreal, you will take a walk and it will feel normal and good - you will grocery shop and you'll be excited for new meals instead in a store with strangers and a feeling of being in the twilight zone. It is glorious. Your job then, is to protect you so that you never go through this again and that is by never attaching to a narc again.

  • @riseup..7781
    @riseup..778110 ай бұрын

    Oh I'm in the depression phase... my hollowness is swallowing me up! I drive my car at night for a good long hour looking at couples or families together, and wonderimg what was wrong with me! Why didn't he love me as others did! Why didn't he hold on me as others would do!? And now i know these are the wrong questions... My loneliness is cutting through my body and heart! I can almost feel it like a blunt knife through my ribs. He robbed 5 precious years and walked over my dead body and coldly threw it at my face: you can live your life now! Mission accomplished!... Can this much cruelty ever exist! Why do these people exist at all? They are worse than wars and hurricanes, worse than deadly viruses and plagues! They kill one's soul alive! You live dead. You're literally deadly alive!!!!

  • @anniegallagher3177

    @anniegallagher3177

    3 ай бұрын

    Same here word by word. How are you now?

  • @riseup..7781

    @riseup..7781

    3 ай бұрын

    @@anniegallagher3177 it's been 6 months since I saw him, trying to gather my pieces, trying to understand more and let work and books distract me. But I drink bitterness with coffee and water. Questions are killing me. I'm alone, he made it in this part. I fail to attract the right person, I fail to love someone else. But wait... the ugly part of the story, and this of course because he definitely is a nasty pervert narcissist, every now and then ans whenever I regain enough energy to move on, he finds a way to send a provoking message, then many more to follow and I wouldn't respond for one day, one week, one month, two months... then I write back. And even if it is a single word I write, he enjoys the game. However... let me tell you my small victory here, I didn't let him see me. I didn't allow him to. I didn't give him the usual fuel. I didn't talk to him on the phone. I didn't engage myself all over again in that painful fight against my pride to satisfy him and get him to see me for who I am. I stopped doing that. So yes, I'm alone and lonely, and yes he's chasing me for whatever supply I can give, and a big YES, I didn't even give him the pleasure to see my face. And I hope I will make it this way for longer enough to let go forever...

  • @elinaselene

    @elinaselene

    2 ай бұрын

    I feel the same now, as he came back time and again over the 4yr relationship and tried to re-idealise me with love bombing, but this phase only lasted around 4 weeks until he went back to his old behaviour. This last time I fell for it and now I am truly looking at myself mostly feeling dead inside. I know if I work through all the grief stages I will come out the other side changed but a better version of myself.

  • @tatsiana3741

    @tatsiana3741

    Ай бұрын

    Same..😢

  • @roccocarbone7829

    @roccocarbone7829

    Ай бұрын

    Narc, destroyed my dream i thought i had hit the love jackpot with the love bomb only to know now it has been 1 month she discarded me, 12 years of roller coaster i feeling numb, she robbed me of the kindness of my heart she changed me I don’t even knowing who I am any more she done horrible things to me and I learned to cut off narcissistic supply without let her know that I new who she is she decided to go, left me with mixed emotions pain and the best way I can describe her she is a pure evil in a human body. Thank you Prof. Sam for all the useful explanation and advice to us abused victims .

  • @riolara-bellon9071
    @riolara-bellon9071Ай бұрын

    Let out a sigh of relief listening to your introductory comments, Dr Sam. Realized almost immediately that I could walk off the narcissistic set. No need for tedious explanations, no questions, no interrogations, no hurt feelings. It’s just over. The play is over. Drop the curtain. His fantasy & my fantasy … done. What a terrific feeling of freedom to walk out of the cage, out of the mental prison. And to see my part in all of this craziness? It only makes sense so actually there is no one to blame. We both played our roles very well even though he acted like the director in charge of an asylum. An asylum he constructed while handing over to me my script, my role … which I tried to follow line by line. Thing is that he’s crazy and I’m crazy. He may want to continue the story but I’m tired of the fantasy. Just plain ol’ tired. What’s really neat is that there’s no one to blame! It’s been a shared fantasy, something we both constructed. Think I’ll just go take a nap now. What a sweet sense of release. Thank you, Dr Sam, thank you for giving me the keys that unlocked the doors of my shared delusion. Te agradezco ❤

  • @Suskinwalton
    @Suskinwalton3 ай бұрын

    I’ve been binging your videos every day for the last few months since my breakup, and they have given me more clarity than anything I’ve read or listened to. And this video specifically has helped me more than any of your other videos. It is SUCH a lonely experience, because almost no one in my life has experienced this and fully understands what I mean when I try to describe it. The mental torment is unbearable. The loss of sense of self is acute. The depression and hopelessness nearly overwhelming. Thank you for simply reflecting my reality back to me.

  • @Reishida24

    @Reishida24

    2 ай бұрын

    Perfectly stated.

  • @elinaselene

    @elinaselene

    Ай бұрын

    Yes it's so hard to put into words the loss you feel. It's like being thawed out from the inside-out, with nothing to replace the gaping void where they once resided.

  • @pjmrees
    @pjmrees Жыл бұрын

    The irony is when I met him he insisted I immediately give him a picture of me and my daughter. I thought it was sweet. Now I wish I'd never met him and could erase the last 24 years of HELL!

  • @christinamichellephotograp8728
    @christinamichellephotograp872827 күн бұрын

    A person suffers - the grief - and it is because it is they want to avoid responsibility for their own life. They have become discouraged by an abusive individual. They need courage, something the narc can not ever have. Narcs are about power. "normal" people have courage and become ENcouraged or DIScouraged. Once a person begins to become responsible for their own life their courage will build.

  • @miaalbert7155
    @miaalbert71554 ай бұрын

    Who I had to become to accommodate HIM! 😢 The depression is real 😢 The self inflicted betrayal is real 😢 The numbness 😢 The loneliness 😢 The trauma bond😢

  • @heatherwagar5868
    @heatherwagar586811 ай бұрын

    I am going through this right now. This process is the closest thing to feeling crazy that I could ever imagine. It is a lonely process that I battle daily. Thank you for this information. I am working so hard to overcome

  • @Evergreen11_11

    @Evergreen11_11

    6 ай бұрын

    Yes, it does make you feel insane. Because we try to understand it how we are, and cannot conceive of the type of person they are…they showed us they knew how to act loving, kind, loyal, and wonderful…so we know they know how…but then the way they devalue and discard us is the exact opposite of what love is. So it makes no sense. Listening to these videos and talking to a therapist helps me understand what they actually are, and though the pain is still very real, it’s the only thing that has helped.

  • @ALSTCM

    @ALSTCM

    4 ай бұрын

    I’m going through it right now too. It feels like I’ve died but somehow still just existing in space and time. The worst part that left me with cPTSD was the serial cheating and betrayal trauma. I found out that his first wife committed suicide and second wife escaped but ended up with cancer. I feel grateful that I didn’t become the 3rd wife, but mourning the last 5 years of wasted love and investment. These videos are the only thing that keep me feeling sane.

  • @elinaselene

    @elinaselene

    2 ай бұрын

    ​​@@ALSTCMI too am going through this right now and I feel dead inside, knowing I have to slowly be kind to myself in order to move through it. Also the crux of my pain was about his secret life knowing full well he had gone back to an ex when he perceived my reactions of jealousy and questioning as an insult to his so called commitment to me. He was out the door as soon as he saw that I was falling apart and blamed me for my insecurities. It was 4 long years of a repetition with him coming back after I'd walked away but he still had an ex and others in his life. Like you say trying to exist now feels like a bad dream almost ephereal.

  • @laurawilliams1370
    @laurawilliams137011 ай бұрын

    "Breaking up with a narcissist is like skinning yourself alive." So horrible and true that I belly laughed. Someone please make this quote into a meme. 😂

  • @lindanicola
    @lindanicolaАй бұрын

    Trying so hard not to text him. Only 5 months "together ", but he hijacked my mind. He has knocked the wind right out of me. It's all making sense listening to you Professor Vaknin. ❤

  • @debogden3686
    @debogden3686 Жыл бұрын

    This is one of the VERY best lectures ever given on the subject. I’m 8 months into this process, and I’m discovering ever greater insights. Thanks to you.

  • @debraparker6404
    @debraparker64048 күн бұрын

    Now I’m finally understanding how forgiveness is self healing. Once you realize they are the ill ones and they are the ones that got you ill. It’s so much easier to get over them and even forgive them. But not forget.

  • @jenfeler
    @jenfeler Жыл бұрын

    Thank you Dr. Vaknin. The others may steal your ideas, but you are the only one, the original. You have saved so many lives, including mine, thank you.

  • @joannamanley2983

    @joannamanley2983

    5 ай бұрын

    Yes, in total agreement. Sam’s the Godfather in this realm, and its irony that it in such a discipline, so called experts, claim another intellectual property. They know who they are!

  • @randomnickname2254
    @randomnickname22544 ай бұрын

    I'm at either denial or depression... Or even more i feel like I'm going through all stages simultaneously. I'm losing my mind. I'm saying out loud that I'll never ever go back to his abuse... But i don't feel anything when i say it. Those words are empty. I'm betraying myself in the worst possible way... No self preservation instict.

  • @anniegallagher3177

    @anniegallagher3177

    3 ай бұрын

    How are you?

  • @randomnickname2254

    @randomnickname2254

    3 ай бұрын

    @@anniegallagher3177 much better. I focused on myself and simple things: eating healthy, working out and sleep. Slowly I'm getting back on my feet

  • @anniegallagher3177

    @anniegallagher3177

    3 ай бұрын

    @@randomnickname2254 Glad to read this ♥️

  • @marinarrentes
    @marinarrentes3 ай бұрын

    It's embarrassing to admit that Vaknin's lectures and excerpts have helped me safely exit more than one narcissistically cursed dynamic. I purposely don't call them relationships anymore, to remind myself none of it was real. It felt real to me - but so do dreams, hallucinations and psychotic states, while you're in them. I have nothing to show for but misdirected anger, distrust, ruined friendships and a tainted reputation, not to mention the ineffable self-destructive cravings ever since the breakup. Since I no longer have a devil on my back, I tend to my own masochism by making bad choices that don't involve bringing the killed-off character back to (my) life 😂 The breakup itself is easy if compared to the uncomfortable commitment of never contacting them again, amidst the hurricane of feelings we're left with. Thank you Sam Vaknin for dedicating so much content to the aftermath of The Falseman Show. It's insulting how similar the shared fantasy's script is for everyone here, but it sure helps us feel less broken and alone.

  • @jemmawingate1185

    @jemmawingate1185

    2 ай бұрын

    Ditto on the not calling them Relationship’s. I’ve had far too many repeats! Listened to a great video on repeated, compulsions. Really helped me.

  • @monamegahed1414
    @monamegahed1414Ай бұрын

    oh my god , u totally nailed it .. breaking up with my narc felt like my soul had ripped out of my body

  • @Brilliant42
    @Brilliant42Ай бұрын

    There is not in the whole you tube a better explanation for the whole situation of the disaster you feel because of a relationship with a narcissist. It makes all so clear. Sam, you are our rescuer, I lived for decades in the darkness of the unknown. Knowledge is POWER , but only the RIGHT Knowledge. Thank you for everything, you are the first and the last and it's a pity that not everyone knows about you and your amazing work in the narcissism. You initiated so many things and all the rest experts should first spelling your name with attention and honor. SAM VAKNIN first, narcissism best expert and inventor and then their bla bla bla. Sorry for my English, I am from Greece, I am a scientist and I can totally recognize your uniqueness Mr Vaknin.

  • @kimtaff1932
    @kimtaff193211 ай бұрын

    I think you can grieve what you never had - even though there was no "real" relationship the breakup can help you face those original losses that drove the trauma bond in the first place.

  • @bethmendoza1847
    @bethmendoza18473 ай бұрын

    Realizing now, that I went through all this by myself without these videos. But even after all these years I’m still trying to make sense of it. Thanks for your help.

  • @js44317
    @js44317 Жыл бұрын

    Grief is real even if the fantasy is not.

  • @user-qz2pw3js2s
    @user-qz2pw3js2s10 ай бұрын

    There is something very interesting about this snapshot explanation that make me think of dating apps and how everyone there have pictures of their ideal selfs and how the first interaction is with these pictures and descriptions.does it mean that the beginning of such interactions are like a shared fantasy 😅

  • @p.m.williams3142

    @p.m.williams3142

    20 күн бұрын

    YESSSSS

  • @artsyalkalearnandgrowbeaut3731
    @artsyalkalearnandgrowbeaut3731 Жыл бұрын

    After understanding, it was abuse and not love. It was tough to cry it out as love. I felt disconnected from my previous thoughts after breaking that trauma bond. Those gestures and words which felt sweet when I thought it was love. It felt betrayal and manipulation. With at most difficulty I processed those feelings. Writing helped a lot.

  • @VeeeBeee
    @VeeeBeee4 ай бұрын

    I come back to your videos as soon as I find myself delving in past (shared fantasy)..... It really helps and gives an instant reality check..... The mind is something which has no control.... One has to keep control over emotions with help of knowledge and sharp understanding.... Or the mind can drag one to dark places.... At such times, revisiting your videos help. Ones brain has to be a strict master of ones mind. This has helped me so far. Don't know the rest....

  • @ShivShaktiShree
    @ShivShaktiShree3 ай бұрын

    I am a painter. After i met my narc i started painting faces with no face. One of this in the chest had a rogthen hear. In one of oir breaks ups i painted a demonic like creature with pointy teeth eating its own flesh, hands and legs and vomiting them in a pool of blood... This is how much the pain was.. Fits exactly to the "skin yourself alive" Metaphor... After him i stopped painting.. I am afriad the beings that will emetge... The colours seem to have no colour no more... I used to write poems.. Feelings and words cannot be expressed... Ita thia void that now only exists... Recently i went to therapy... What i said to the dr was. "I just want to be again... I want to be alive... She asked you are not? I said one that wals on auto and eats in autonis not alive.. Its just living"... Zombie mode... Slowly i am gettin out of it... Today i went to the market with no panic attack... Proud of myself... " Guves a pat on her shoulder and hug 🤗'" ❤if anything i am learning to slowly love myself back.. Andntey to embrace the new me coming... Old me dead and burried... Screaming and mourning in my sleep... Buy slowly it fades away... Love yourself people... I slowly learn to do that... ❤

  • @ShivShaktiShree

    @ShivShaktiShree

    3 ай бұрын

    @@slackingoffagain currently under medication for depression and panic attacks. Panic attacks gone but dissociation and agoraphovia is there. I am practicing tai chi that has exercises like these and helps. Also started Chinese acupuncture that helps a bit. Luck of concentration is there too and a lot of heavy heart paltantions. It has gotten a bit better but I think this is how it's going to be from now on... Glad you got better... Keep it up... 🙃🙏

  • @ShivShaktiShree

    @ShivShaktiShree

    2 ай бұрын

    @@slackingoffagain same here🙂. No tears for me today(yet.. XD). We got two words in Greece from ancient dramas. Tragelaughikoa and comikotragiko...they mean stg so tragic you can only laugh about it..and from tragic it becomes a comedy..of how upserd it is... XD. Started painting again slowly.. Nothing much. Only watercolors... But the creature is emerging is full of light and hope... Learning to trust my strokes again and identify colours from skratch...Stg deep inside our old self tries to emerge... It is not completely dead... Only altered... Changing skin... I trust my paintings... They tell me she is still here... And I need to stop mourning for her... We do not mourn them... We mourn us... Watched us die.. Arrange our own funeral and then watch us getting buried... Throwing the soil on top with our own hands... Now I am waiting patiently for the flowers to grow on top.. Nothing ever dies... Only recycled... I am watching myself slowly having a tiny smile on my face...its tiny But it's there... The flower eventually will become a garden again... And the smile will turn into laughter... For you as well... 🙏

  • @ShivShaktiShree

    @ShivShaktiShree

    2 ай бұрын

    @@slackingoffagain yes. It's a turning point in humanity and we are simply mirrors. Reflecting all others and ourselves as fragments of its all. Once the ego identity brakes there is nowhere to turn into. I remember one time not long ago I woke up and had the answer why we need to love and be loved. And the answer is quite simple. Out there in the realm of no body everything exists in unity. As a part of its all. No separation. And once we come here we are just trying to recreate this. Because we can be seen only by the lens of others thus gain existence. Love is the only power that can do this. All forms of it. Love for another, animals, nature, hobies, a job... Everything putting a little stone on our identity that keeps us going and reminding us of the unity existing outside. I think eventually this is what narc and eventually narc in the society does. Takes away everything as fake, everything we once were all believed in seizes to exist. From there on just the void. The other we loved never existed, the outside world is even more fake... And us as being a part of it we are fake too. In the end is existencial truths hitting us hard. Because if you don't trust yourself anymore and the others.. If you don't know what the others are then what are you? And at the end the mirror will show the horrible truth... That you are just a reflection of what once made sense.. But does not anymore... No tears again for me today... Only a void of deep sadness... No flowers for me today... Today they are part of my void... Part of the mirror... I am watching myself from outside... Refusing to continue a movie making no sense anymore... Maybe tomorrow... 🙃 Hope your day will be more hopeful than mine.. 🙂🙏

  • @Daniel-Deshaun
    @Daniel-Deshaun4 күн бұрын

    The day after I had planned on ending my life I met her. I was skeptical but I quickly fell for her. Pure euphoria. On the day I said I would end my life instead we were in my apartment laughing and dancing and kissing on the couch. She looked in my eyes and said “you make my soul smile, I love you, and I hope you kiss me the same way when we grow old together.” That’s the moment I knew I was in love, and for the first time I said “I love you” to someone else. I thought I had found my person. Then the devaluation and discard began. I was right in a way. A part of me did die that day. But I’m free from the torture she inflicted on me and I’m learning how to enjoy life again

  • @Cece-cares
    @Cece-cares8 ай бұрын

    This Doctor is such a blessing to humanity!

  • @gomolemosetshedi8076
    @gomolemosetshedi80762 ай бұрын

    Abused for a shortwhile close to a year but the aftermath of it is taking forever to get over,Its like I have been abused a min ago damn.

  • @rachelwebb4781
    @rachelwebb4781 Жыл бұрын

    This is so true. It was a photograph of me with a triangle over my head as his screen saver that he said he needed to do some adjusting to. It didn't make sense but now it does. From viewing every item of clothing prior to meeting to planning how I'd wear my hair. He made me what he wanted. My fault I fell into the trap. It was hell when I didn't conform to whatever he wanted. It was a nightmare! The grief & mourning is real. Eventually after he was established in this Country, he said he no longer loved me. I went gray rock and finally divorced him after 5 years of marraige, the last 2 just living under the same roof. Thank you for this! I will never be the same again. I break off all the soul ties in the name of Jesus.This is so messed up. Nobody understands why I keep mourning this. There's no closure and that's a hard concept to grasp. I will never go thru this again.

  • @011silbermond

    @011silbermond

    Жыл бұрын

    I guess everyone will understand (sadly I do!) who ever really had this absolutely confusing and odd experience that a person you think you´re in a relationship with (or affair or whatever it is exactly, often those people don´t even take the courage to name it) keeps telling you you´ll have to make efforts, change, really try harder to fit in and evth within this frame to be worthy of his (or her) love. It was no coincidence that when I was after 10 years finally able to go no contact with him it has been the same week that I could go no contact with my mother!! It was merely smbolic, because she could never see me as a person. But it took me an eternity to open my eyes that much that I was able to see her wrongdoings, all her neglect, how she trapped me emotionally so I had to suffer under my brother´s abuse of different ways. The brainwashing effect was too strong. They both used me to move on, to become successful and I wondered why do I feel even worse over time? It was because they were able to get their narc supply from other sources. It might not have been marriage and I definitely can´t know what it would be like under the same roof, but these underlying mechanisms you will see in every of these stories, it´s heartbreaking, it´s super cruel, because this is nothing a person should suffer from.

  • @elainemcparland36

    @elainemcparland36

    5 ай бұрын

    I have no idea how the narcissist is meant to do all these things …. You say he takes a snapshot, you live a shared fantasy .., examples of this type of behaviour would actualize?

  • @mariedonnelly8646
    @mariedonnelly86464 ай бұрын

    The worst pain I’ve been through, but definitely being able to talk to friends really helps me and although I don’t always talk as much as I should, my mind clears once I’ve done it.. for a while anyway!

  • @amberwinters395
    @amberwinters395Ай бұрын

    I've been watching your videos non stop for the past couple weeks and I would like to express my gratitude for you and this channel. I've just went through 6 months of emotional and physical hell, completely alone, not able to talk to anyone. I had no clue what was happening, what had happened, and thought I was really going crazy. Now I know. Everything makes sense now. You have helped me tremendously thank you 🙏

  • @LauraHalvar
    @LauraHalvar11 ай бұрын

    Over and over my therapist told me "Mourn the loss of the mother you never had". It took 3 months for me to process that. I was so angry. That was 10 years ago. Mim, (not a mom) has since died. The trauma didn't die with her.

  • @cathyknott646
    @cathyknott64611 ай бұрын

    I am at this point. i am in tears listening to this podcast. He left 10 years ago, i grieved for 7 years! his words were in my head. We never divorced , hope and his flying monkey mother contributed to this. I started feeling ME again, and He came BACK for 2 months , I went through the whole textbook cycle! he went back to the other woman, leaving me feel small, humiliated and angry at myself.. again. I will allow the grief. I was fighting it, trying to be strong. I need to find other people, who understand , I can trust myself to tell anyone my humiliation again. My physiatrist just medicates.. I need nature, get him out of my head.

  • @cathyknott646

    @cathyknott646

    6 ай бұрын

    thank you .@@vickibazter3446

  • @VeeeBeee

    @VeeeBeee

    5 ай бұрын

    I went thru 10 years of those cycles separated yet not divorced.... Now divorcing..... Now he is in revenge mode... Put criminal charges of child abuse on me...

  • @clairekyriakou591
    @clairekyriakou5919 ай бұрын

    "Ok bunnies and bunnets" ...what a sweet and humourous person you are professor!! Thank you for helping so many people who were ignorant about narcissism and were suffering patiently in silence..

  • @Alchemuma
    @Alchemuma3 ай бұрын

    Why is this man the only one to make sense?! I want to learn under him!

  • @jodyhing8557
    @jodyhing8557 Жыл бұрын

    Aloha🌺 from Kona Hawaii🌋 I’ve been educating myself daily for over one year now, listening to your lectures, and slowly, but surely I’m healing now that I know that I’ve been married to a narcissist for 29 years, and that there was nothing that I could have done to change this individual, and it had nothing to do with me. I have three grown adults with this individual going through a divorce right now and let me tell you it is mind. F*^%ery just craziness, and it doesn’t help that it was a police officer for the first nine years of our relationship then it became a sheriff officer, and now it’s an officer of land and natural resources, and so it knows how to work the system, and the law. here in Hawaii everything is half/half 50%.. it’s been over a year now and it knows how to drag the process you would think it would want to move on with its life with its next new intimate partner/victim that it was grooming for the last three years before my break down, discard… but nope it’s punishment and misery… it is so hard to find a lawyer attorney, who understands narcissism. And it doesn’t want to sell our home. It agreed to pay me out half of what our home is worth. But I doubt I’ll get anything because it Hass to refinance and over the years. I had to do everything adult around our home. I can’t imagine having to do all of this. Our home was beautiful once, but it has turned into a pig pen because it hoarded a lot of crap over the years and if I threw anything away, it would give me the silent treatment sometimes for a couple months, anyway I could go on and on I wish I had a lot of money so that I could hire you to be my attorney or at least just to talk with you in person but I guess that is magical thinking on my part (ha! I’m chuckling to myself) anyway, thank goodness for you, for sharing your knowledge with all of us Babetts & Guyettes ha! I like that we can learn and laugh at the same time🙂 Love & aloha AGAIN! Thank you……jody

  • @suewalsh5239
    @suewalsh52398 күн бұрын

    This is amazing and every word is a truth I have come to know. I have said goodbye to the person i was but I am still here and building from the ground up. The professor has been one of the biggest helps in this slow recovery.

  • @Prashant131090
    @Prashant131090 Жыл бұрын

    "943 videos"... 😂 Thank you, Professor Dr Sam Vaknin. Respect and love from India.🙏

  • @julieprice488
    @julieprice488 Жыл бұрын

    😮mourning something that never existed 💡

  • @JoeBrandAG
    @JoeBrandAG11 ай бұрын

    Everytime I start to doubt my limits, I come to your channel and it just works like wonders; never been able to connect with other content creators about this topic that romanticize every bit of data, you clearly know what you're talking about - not because you're a professional but because you explain so simply the logic behind it all, from childhood trauma to adult chronic behaviors

  • @craigbulkeley8827
    @craigbulkeley8827 Жыл бұрын

    This would have to be the best information out there about recovering from narcissist abuse . Thank you Pro Vaknin for this episode🙏🏻

  • @eleeish
    @eleeish8 ай бұрын

    I think this is Sam's kindest message. Thank you. I agreed to many points aloud like a sermon. I admit and agree it is my own fantasy that died and I feel unalive without it and him. My experience was only a couple months and I want to be honest and admit, I am foolishly so jealous of people who had the fantasy for many years or who got repeatedly hoovered. I know, the narrative SHOULD be I was stronger willed, so I didnt 100% comply and so it ended sooner as sucessfully poor supply. Some time has passed with friends poorly understanding this devastating experience, myself too, until I found your youtube. I am wiser today due to this knowledge. I owe it to myself to live and spread this knowledge.

  • @jesusmind1611
    @jesusmind16119 ай бұрын

    at 49 "it's excedingly depressing" yes. I am following this as Prof. Vaknin were in the room with me now. I seem to be in this exact moment of grief myself. It is beyond bargaining, anger, and the facts are, "she ruined my life", wait that is not possible and then oh yes I had the perfect love and totally changed to be her knight/savior/hero and she had a cold knower and this angelic sweet (wounded) child (She is vulnerable not grandiose) and I am the savior I always hoped to be on my white horse until the bubble burst the first time. And the second and the third and this monster just like my dad was there. Imagine witnessing dear old dad in a slim girl, wierd huh This talk is philosophic perfection at a time of synchronicity, hey if you can use Lacan I can use Jung no really I need this more than Heroin or a skull-bullet thank you, good for you for getting all clincal with us peons out in viewer world, thank you. And a real academic for a welcome relief, no really, I am now a fan, a subscriber. Professor Herman changed my life for the better. You are at that level, Professor, thanx last time, relief for me acceptance starts soon I have had enough uncontrolable crying and sleeping all day, it's not who I am Wow this was theraputic

  • @whitedoveoffir
    @whitedoveoffir3 ай бұрын

    I'm just so relieved he is gone ...and I am free to live my life. 😅 Sure there are sad moments. But the worst parts were when he was still around. Now every day is sweet and better day by day. Thank you for your videos.

  • @trishsmitty1164
    @trishsmitty1164Ай бұрын

    I listen to you all the time. This has been most impactful on my journey…based on the stages, which I did not know, I am almost out of it but you have validated EVERYTHING I have went thru and experienced in my soul. Thank you Professor Sam🙏

  • @trishsmitty1164

    @trishsmitty1164

    Ай бұрын

    Oh yes and cheers 🥂

  • @redcrowdemon
    @redcrowdemon Жыл бұрын

    Madeleine here (Nigel is my deceased hubby - after him I landed a Covert Narcissist!). Sam Vaknin you are a Genius! My psychotherapist is most impressed too! You have almost single-handedly saved me from Narcissistic Abuse! I am Loving this latest one, as I was discarded (for the second time) in March. It’s true! I’m grieving my Idealised Self. I don’t LIKE my Idealised Self. It isn’t ME. My mother had CN traits and hence I have swung from feeling Special to Worthless all my life. Neither are the Real Me. Hey Sam I almost could say my ex covert narcissist did me a big favour. At last I can see my Idealised Self is no more real than the (co-dependent) Worthless One!

  • @brentdrake5414
    @brentdrake54149 күн бұрын

    add to the list the breakup was more painful that losing big amounts of money. Emotionally it really was.

  • @ladakoroliuk3753
    @ladakoroliuk37539 ай бұрын

    I lived in a shared fantasy and the grief is a shared fantasy. I feel as if I lived in some sort of Matrix. It's very dark to think about it. The bright side is all of it was just a hallucination. I dreamed for 31 years.

  • @user-xf7tp2mt2r

    @user-xf7tp2mt2r

    9 ай бұрын

    I’m sorry to hear it went in so long for you. I have lost 17 years.

  • @beautyskin8696
    @beautyskin869611 ай бұрын

    What a treasure to humanity you are Sam. Thank you for all you do ❤

  • @lkasperski56
    @lkasperski566 ай бұрын

    Dear Prof Vaknin, u are of great service to humanity. This is by far the best lecture on narcissistic abuse-the truth of it and how to heal from it that I have ever come across. ❤

  • @michaelagiddings1520
    @michaelagiddings1520Күн бұрын

    it took me 8 years and then stupidly I allowed him to suck me back in. 2 years on and the same same same. now I'm back to square one. however I'm more aware this time so it's not as crippling as round one. but still needing to understand again and grieve. what a horrible existence I feel I'm living 😢

  • @yb6940
    @yb69403 ай бұрын

    Nobody understands as well as you Sam ! I feel listening to you I have become my own therapist! Thankyou ❤

  • @roxanemiller4129
    @roxanemiller41295 ай бұрын

    This is medicine for me and gives me hope as I’m “skinned alive” Thank You ❤

  • @jennypicciotto9215
    @jennypicciotto92157 ай бұрын

    I have been listening to your videos for about a year. This is the most vulnerable and empathetic lecture I have heard from you. Deeply resonating with your openness and humility. Thank you very much!

  • @debraparker6404
    @debraparker64048 күн бұрын

    It really helps to read the comments also.

  • @dorisbaker528
    @dorisbaker528Ай бұрын

    This is so spur on.. I will return to who I am. Determined!

  • @sunshinerae7230
    @sunshinerae7230 Жыл бұрын

    The dismal shared fantasy😢

  • @user-wo4fo6nz9g
    @user-wo4fo6nz9g7 ай бұрын

    This is something out of this world,am full of regrets.

  • @sagenerd419
    @sagenerd419 Жыл бұрын

    I laughed for several minutes after having read this video title. It is hilarious in a morbid way, my intuition that this tittle spoke truth

  • @dragonfly8149
    @dragonfly8149 Жыл бұрын

    This is very much the path I have forged over the last year and I can vouch that this is the way to peace and freedom from attachment, and recognising self love.

  • @kimyates6119
    @kimyates6119 Жыл бұрын

    This has been the best video I’ve watched to help overcome this living hell…thank you!

  • @dilfuzakhaydarova2859
    @dilfuzakhaydarova285911 ай бұрын

    I had this experience in my life and its effect to my emotional life. Thank you so much Dear Professor ❤

  • @nikki088
    @nikki0882 ай бұрын

    What a sweet and caring talk. Just what I needed tonight. Many thanks.

  • @marymchughmayhew567
    @marymchughmayhew5674 ай бұрын

    Thank you Prof. Sam Vaknin.

  • @hazizeljucovic4956
    @hazizeljucovic495611 ай бұрын

    Thank you Sam!...I needed this 🙏

  • @Allief-hm3no
    @Allief-hm3no Жыл бұрын

    Thank You , Professor !

  • @dilianapanova1507
    @dilianapanova1507 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for explaining so well ❤️

  • @ritaesp69
    @ritaesp692 ай бұрын

    Gosh, Thank you so much Dr. Vaknin!!!

  • @violawolf1962
    @violawolf196211 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for this very helpful content!🙏🏼

  • @user-fd2mr8rf3h
    @user-fd2mr8rf3h Жыл бұрын

    THANK YOU!!! ❤

  • @I_see_a_spider
    @I_see_a_spider8 ай бұрын

    I am going through this at the moment. To put it in context, i'm married and have a family. I am a true Mother. I met a man online, and we seemed to hit it off straight away, i know some people didn't seem to like him much and i couldn't understand why. He was so friendly, funny, caring. I'm ashamed to say his 'love bombing' got the better of me for a time, but the more boundaries i set the more he took no notice. It got to the point that we either sex texted or we didn't speak, and I finally finished it 9 weeks ago. I was fine to start , but then it hit me, he was like 'the son' i never had and i mentioned to a friend who just laughed. Now I realize it's what he was, and he was my own mother' who had passed away at the same age i might add that he was. I wonder how the 'dual mothership' works if the he knows you are a true Mother. The last thing I ever said to him 'I love you unconditionally as a friend, but my family mean more to me and I wouldn't want to lose them' He was fine to start, then told me , eight hours later that 'i knew how to hurt' and he blocked me. I just wanted to be friends but i now see that he saw that as rejection. I miss him every day. And yes please judge me, i know what i did was wrong.

  • @yogajourney1345
    @yogajourney134511 ай бұрын

    I love this!!!! Brilliant

  • @nolies754
    @nolies7543 күн бұрын

    Y apt and much needed advice! Thank you! ❤

  • @storyofzero
    @storyofzero11 ай бұрын

    This is timely and deeply helpful. Thank you.

  • @alexander_b132
    @alexander_b132 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you!

  • @volk3644
    @volk36449 ай бұрын

    This is amazing! I want to try to live after that video! Thank you very much

  • @TY-ko2jb
    @TY-ko2jb Жыл бұрын

    Thank you ❤

  • @suslynn4033
    @suslynn4033 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much.

  • @Giajade09
    @Giajade09 Жыл бұрын

    Professor Vakin you really helped me with this one. I really needed to hear this as I work through the stages of my grief. Thank you

  • @dilfuzakhaydarova2859
    @dilfuzakhaydarova2859 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you so much Dear Professor ❤.

  • @sarahmcnicol.lifecoach
    @sarahmcnicol.lifecoach8 ай бұрын

    Brilliant Sam thank you 🙏

  • @tabisu4905
    @tabisu490510 ай бұрын

    You're a brilliant man. Thank you

  • @klaudialatkowska4945
    @klaudialatkowska49457 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for the work you do 🙏🏽🙏🏽

  • @leylahasanova7228
    @leylahasanova722811 ай бұрын

    Very insightful lecture. Thank you!❤

  • @madhuryabalan4118
    @madhuryabalan41186 ай бұрын

    Your work is invaluable.

  • @sheilamelchiorre9706
    @sheilamelchiorre97069 ай бұрын

    This video really hit me hard- thank you professor Sam, this touched me in so many ways. Thank you!!🙏🙏

  • @IRONBYRON3
    @IRONBYRON3 Жыл бұрын

    Sage and comprehensive!

  • @barbaram.-xi3gf
    @barbaram.-xi3gf6 ай бұрын

    Thank you 🙏🏻

  • @amadeuscrossing7061
    @amadeuscrossing70616 ай бұрын

    This channel has come to me at the right time

  • @annigoransson9896
    @annigoransson9896 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you:)

  • @anabandana666
    @anabandana666 Жыл бұрын

    This is heavy 🎉

  • @lindastarks2917
    @lindastarks291711 ай бұрын

    Thank you so much for the video. You nailed what I'm going through to a tee. It's good to know that what I am feeling is normal and all part of the process. Thank you again.

  • @amberfuchs398
    @amberfuchs39811 ай бұрын

    Fantastic. It takes me forever to get through your videos bc they're so dense with meaning, keep 'em coming.

  • @kieranbutler4805
    @kieranbutler4805 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you Prof for helping me to understand and make sense of what i am experiencing.

  • @vandolmatzis8146
    @vandolmatzis8146 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you Prof.