After a narcissistic relationship, many people realize they ignored their intuition and regret not listening to it more.

At first, they may have ignored the warning signs and continued seeing the narcissist, even though they felt uncomfortable around him.

As the relationship matured, they may have ignored their partner’s feelings of betrayal or lack of interest in them, convincing themselves they were in a normal loving relationship.

Toward the end, they may have gradually ignored their feelings of abandonment, believing it was just paranoia. Then, suddenly, the relationship ended.

During my narcissistic relationship, I ignored a lot of my intuition, which bothered me for years. But I didn’t realize this until after the relationship. (I’ll talk about this later.)

Related : How Female Narcissists Draw Men In

Why do we ignore our intuition in narcissistic relationships? In this article, I’ll discuss several reasons why narcissists prevent us from trusting our intuition…

Love Bomb

At the beginning of relationships, most narcissists are hit by the love bomb. This is when they act like the perfect partner. They’re kind and considerate. They love everything you love. They seem to revere the place you walk.

Most of us have never experienced this kind of attention before. And it’s easy to fall into its trap.

This romantic spiral puts you in a turbulent psychological state. You can’t think clearly, which leads to repressed thoughts about things that don’t seem right, or that are too good to be true. We desperately want this “perfect” relationship to deliver.

They Pull You Into Anxiety

Once you’ve been with a narcissist for a while, the game begins. They start to frustrate you in subtle ways. They create conflict out of nowhere. They learn which buttons to push.

On top of that, narcissists live chaotic lives. They rely on their partners to organize and maintain order, while they carelessly wander through the world.

This pushes their partners into a state of anxiety, because so much is on their shoulders. The narcissist increases this pressure with their behavior.

In this state of mind, your intuition is weakened. You’re in survival mode. The problems the narcissist creates dominate your thoughts, and the many responsibilities weigh you down.

Isolate Yourself From Friends and Family

It’s common for narcissists to isolate their partners from their family and friends. They may physically move them to a new place to live, or disrupt work by causing conflict with those close to them.

Related : How Life Improves When You Leave A Narcissist

Narcissists do this because they know that a person who is isolated is more controllable. They don’t have anyone to discuss their thoughts and feelings with and validate them. When you’re alone with your thoughts and feelings, it’s difficult to understand them and believe in their validity because there’s no one to validate them.

It Sounds Unbelievable

During my relationship with a narcissist, my intuition told me that she just wanted me to help raise her child and make her life easier. But at the time, this seemed unattainable. In my naive mind, no one would buy a house, marry you, or share your life with you just to take advantage of you. So I assumed I was paranoid.

What most people don’t realize is that narcissists think differently than normal people. This is why we have a hard time understanding what they’re doing.

To understand things, we often assume we’re wrong, misunderstood, paranoid, or misguided.

We blame narcissists for our way of thinking. This causes us to ignore our own inner feelings because we don’t believe those feelings could be real.

Self Manipulation

Narcissists practice self-manipulation, whether intentionally or unintentionally, with their partners. Some narcissists want their partners to stop trusting their perceptions. So, they play various mind games to achieve this.

They may say or do something, then later deny it. This is just to manipulate your mind. They may change some things at home, then deny it. This, of course, raises doubt in you. Who would do something like that intentionally?

Narcissists may also practice self-manipulation with their partners as a byproduct of their manipulation and deception. They may say one thing, then do another. Or they may lie to cover their tracks. This is confusing and misleading.

Related : What Makes Narcissists Jealous?

Whether intentional or not, this self-manipulation convinces us that our perceptions are often “wrong.” And if our perceptions are wrong, our intuition may be wrong, too. Many people lose confidence and rely on the narcissist’s view of reality, which is, of course, a highly biased view.

Narcissist’s Illusion World

Narcissists live in a fantasy world, convincing themselves that the reality they desire is the reality we all experience.

For example, a narcissist may consider themselves a successful and important person, even if they have done nothing significant. He may act and talk as if this is true.

Narcissists’ delusions confuse their partners because they are so convinced of their version of reality. In fact, the narcissist may be more confident in their delusion than their partner is in reality.

After a while, their partner may trust their version of reality more than their logic and intuition. This is understandable, given how much time they have spent exposed to the narcissist.

Blame Shifting

When a narcissist makes a mistake, they instinctively shift the blame onto others. Their primary partner usually recognizes this.

Narcissists become so accustomed to shifting blame that they can be very convincing. Years of this practice contaminates their partner’s mind.

The narcissist’s partner may feel they have done nothing wrong. But the narcissist convinces them of this using deception, twisted logic, and other tricks.

Years of this undermines their confidence in their instincts. Although they feel they are right, the narcissist proves them wrong. This leads them to believe they’ve made a mistake, even when they’re acting completely rationally.

This convinces their partner that their radar is faulty and that they can’t trust their own thoughts and feelings.

Narcissists: Black and White Thinking

When you refuse a narcissist’s “request,” they often demand to know why. And when you explain that you don’t want to do something, they rarely accept this as a reason.

Narcissists often have black and white thinking, and they expect you to be too. So when you explain that you don’t want to do something, they demand a reason, even if you can’t always find the right words to explain it.

Related : Signs Your Friend Is A Narcissist

We’re all deeply influenced by the people we spend the most time with. If you spend a lot of time with a narcissist, you’ll be influenced by them.

Since narcissists ignore your intuition, you do the same. This means you learn to ignore those gut feelings because they can’t always be rationally explained.

Sleep Deprivation

Many partners of narcissists are deprived of sleep, either intentionally or as a result of their behavior.

Some narcissists intentionally deprive their partners of sleep to weaken them. They know that a tired and overwhelmed person is easier to control. Therefore, they may intentionally wake them up while they’re sleeping, or cause late-night arguments, leaving them struggling to sleep.

In a narcissistic relationship, most of the responsibilities fall on their partners. Meanwhile, the narcissist acts negligently, causing anxiety and stress, which interferes with sleep.

A sleep-deprived person finds it difficult to trust their senses. Forget their intuition; they’re navigating life while asleep. When the narcissist sees this, they’re happy to offer their version of reality, dismissing all your thoughts and feelings.

Conclusion

You rarely hear people complain about listening too much to their intuition. But you hear them wishing they’d listened more, especially when it comes to narcissists.

While your intuition isn’t infallible, it’s a powerful guide. It stems from whatever’s hidden in your subconscious mind. It’s not limited by words.

Related : How Narcissists Make It Seem Like You Are The Problem

If you have a gut feeling about something, never ignore it. While it may be wrong, it’s worth giving it some thought. Especially if these feelings continue to bother you.

The more you listen to your intuition, the stronger it becomes, and the stronger your relationship with it becomes. You also learn to interpret these feelings more accurately.

If someone enters your life and you feel uncomfortable with them, this is a serious warning sign. It should be taken seriously, as many people ignore these warning signs and later regret it.