If you’re in a relationship with a narcissist, you probably know that narcissism takes a toll on romance. Narcissistic behaviors can lead to a relationship falling apart.

Here are ten ways narcissists destroy relationships with their spouses or significant others.

Showing a Complete Lack of Empathy

A certain degree of empathy is needed for a healthy relationship. When we empathize with our partners, we can understand and comfort their struggles.

Unfortunately, narcissists lack empathy for others, including their partners. This means they won’t have room for your feelings when you’re upset or hurt. Don’t expect them to comfort you, even if they’re the ones causing you pain.

Exploiting Your Kindness

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder are willing to take advantage of others if it means they have something to gain from it. Exploitative behavior is one of the diagnostic criteria for this personality disorder.

When you’re in a relationship with a narcissist, they will frequently take advantage of your kindness.

They will ask you for things repeatedly, borrow money without paying it back, and even use your status, such as your job or role in society, to further their own interests.

Over time, you will feel used, abused, and targeted. See, the narcissist doesn’t care about repaying any of the favors you’ve done for them.

So, you will be left in a relationship where you are taken advantage of while receiving little or nothing in return.

Totally Exhausted

The narcissist will demand a lot of your time and energy during the relationship. They will expect you to meet their every demand, which means they will ask you to give up what you do to meet their needs.

The narcissist will find it unreasonable for you to refuse a request or fail to do what they ask of you.

After putting up with this for a while, you will begin to feel completely exhausted from juggling all of the narcissist’s demands.

Related : These Are The Most Toxic Traits Of The Narcissist

No matter how hard you try to keep up, you will never be able to meet all of the narcissist’s demands.

Repeated Insults

Narcissists suffer from jealousy, and they envy their partners. They don’t want you to feel good about yourself too much, so they will insult you a lot.

You can expect name-calling and every other insult under the sun during arguments.

These insults will start to take their toll on you. Eventually, your self-esteem will suffer, and you won’t be able to trust your narcissistic partner to treat you the way you deserve.

Acts of Infidelity

Narcissists are known to be cheaters, and many are guilty of serial infidelity. This is because a narcissist needs almost constant attention and admiration.

Even if you work tirelessly to shower the narcissist with attention, it won’t be enough to meet their needs. This means they will seek attention elsewhere, which eventually leads to infidelity.

Unfortunately, due to a narcissist’s lack of empathy, they don’t care that your infidelity hurts. They’re only concerned with their own needs for external validation.

Constantly reminding you of their superiority

Narcissists see themselves as superior to others, and they will make sure to remind you that they are more successful, more attractive, and more intelligent than you.

If you achieve success or achieve one of your goals, they will make sure to tell you how they did the same thing, but better.

Bouts of Rage

They may belittle your successes, telling you that your accomplishments are no big deal.

Because of their superiority complex, you will feel a complete lack of support from your narcissistic partner, and you may even feel as if you are unworthy of love.

Narcissists like things to be done exactly their way and do not like to be questioned. If you refuse to comply with the narcissist’s demands, or question their superiority in any way, they are likely to act out in anger.

Narcissistic anger can include screaming, yelling, verbal abuse, or even acts of physical aggression. It can come out of the blue in response to the slightest slight.

For example, if a narcissist feels you are not giving them the respect or attention they deserve, they may lash out, even if you had no intention of hurting their feelings.

Repeated outbursts of anger can leave you feeling scared and even traumatized, and you may feel unsafe around your partner.

Not Showing Any Consideration for Your Wishes

Narcissists are selfish, meaning they do not particularly care about your needs.

In a healthy relationship, partners compromise and consider each other’s needs and preferences when making decisions.

Related : These Are The Most Toxic Traits Of The Narcissist

That’s not how it works in a relationship with a narcissist. Every decision will revolve around the narcissist’s needs and desires while you fade into the background.

This means that you’ll likely give up your hobbies and interests in favor of what the narcissist wants. Over time, you’ll feel like you’ve lost yourself in the relationship.

IsolatingYouFromOthers

Since narcissists are jealous, they won’t be very keen on spending time with friends and family.

They may even convince you that your loved ones are bad people, so you won’t want to spend time with them.

A narcissist also needs all of your time and attention so that you can meet their admiration needs.

Spending time with friends and family can prevent you from meeting the narcissist’s needs, so they have a very strong incentive to isolate you.

This is detrimental to the relationship because it’s important to maintain outside friendships and interests, even when you’re in a committed partnership.

As the relationship with the narcissist continues, you will likely realize that you have given up most friendships for the narcissist.

Controlling Behavior

Narcissism often comes with controlling behavior, and there are several reasons for this.

First, the narcissist feels entitled to your time and energy. Instead of letting you maintain your independence, they will impose their control over how you spend your time, because they feel entitled to do so.

Second, the narcissist is jealous by nature, which means they won’t want you to spend time with other people. They may even worry that you’ll be unfaithful if you’re out of their sight for too long.

All of this leads to controlling behaviors, which never lead to success in a relationship. In fact, in most cases, controlling behavior is a symptom of an abusive relationship.

What This All Means for Your Relationship

The behaviors listed above are toxic to a relationship, and they usually lead to the downfall of a partnership with a narcissist.

Over time, you’ll notice that the relationship is completely one-sided, with you doing your best to please the narcissist while they do little to please you in return.

This relationship will be mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually exhausting.

You may find yourself trapped in this relationship because every time you try to leave, they promise to change, only to quickly return to their abusive behaviors.

Unless your narcissistic partner is willing to seek professional support to help them choose healthier behaviors, this relationship is unlikely to ever meet your needs.