Have you ever ended up feeling like you’re to blame for every problem when you’re around a narcissist?

They twist the story so skillfully that you leave room for questioning your actions, even when you’re not. But why do they do this?

Here are 12 reasons why you’re always in charge, and the narcissist isn’t.

1 Avoiding Responsibility:

Narcissists have a hard time accepting that they’re not perfect. So, they shift blame to avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

Narcissists struggle to accept their flaws and often shift blame to avoid taking responsibility for their actions. When confronted with their mistakes, they have a hard time admitting their mistakes.

Instead of admitting their mistakes, they shift responsibility onto others. This behavior stems from their deep-rooted need to protect their idealized self-image. By blaming external factors or individuals, they protect themselves from feelings of inadequacy or failure.

This pattern of avoiding responsibility stunts their personal growth and puts a strain on their relationships.

2 Low Self-Esteem:

Despite their outwardly strong personality, narcissists often have fragile self-esteem. They use blame to protect their ego and maintain their sense of superiority

To protect their fragile self-esteem, narcissists often resort to shifting blame onto others to protect their ego and maintain their sense of superiority. Despite appearing confident and strong, deep down narcissists harbor feelings of inadequacy and insecurity.

By shifting blame onto others, they create a facade of infallibility and grandiosity to hide their inner vulnerabilities.

This blame game acts as a defense mechanism, protecting them from confronting their own flaws and shortcomings. When their ego is threatened, they shift responsibility onto others, ensuring that their self-image remains intact.

This perpetual cycle of blame allows narcissists to maintain the illusion of superiority and control, and to protect their self-esteem from any form of criticism or scrutiny.

Control Mechanism #3:

By blaming you, they manipulate and control the situation to their advantage. This allows them to dictate the narrative and maintain dominance in the relationship.

Related : 11 Ways To Rebuild Self-Esteem After Leaving Your Narcissist

To maintain dominance in the relationship, narcissists manipulate and control situations by shifting the blame onto you, which allows them to dictate the narrative to their advantage.

By making you the scapegoat for everything that goes wrong, they take the focus away from their own actions and behaviors.

These manipulation tactics allow them to stay in control and avoid taking responsibility for their own mistakes or shortcomings. Furthermore, constantly blaming you creates a power dynamic where they hold all the cards, leaving you feeling confused, guilty, and inferior.

This control mechanism is a tool they use to assert their power and keep you in a state of subservience, ensuring that they remain at the center of the relationship dynamic.

4 Projection:

Narcissists often project their negative behaviors onto others. This means that they attribute the things they actually do to others.

By projecting their negative behaviors onto others, narcissists shift accountability and blame onto innocent parties. By projecting their flaws onto you, they avoid taking responsibility for their actions and manipulate the narrative to their advantage.

This manipulation tactic confuses and distracts you, making it easier for them to maintain control of the situation.

For example, if a narcissist is being dishonest, they may instead accuse you of being untrustworthy. This projection allows them to continue their harmful behaviors unchecked while making you question your own reality.

Understanding this projection can help you see through their manipulation and protect yourself from being unfairly blamed for things you didn’t do.

5 Lack of Empathy:

Narcissists are unable to empathize with the feelings of others. Placing blame on others allows them to ignore and invalidate the experiences and feelings of their victims.

Narcissists’ lack of empathy manifests itself in their inability to understand or relate to others’ feelings, which allows them to dismiss and minimize the feelings and experiences of their victims through blame tactics.

By refusing to acknowledge or validate the pain they cause, narcissists protect their fragile self-image and avoid taking responsibility for their actions. This lack of empathy allows them to manipulate situations to their advantage without regard for the suffering they inflict on others.

When faced with the consequences of their behavior, they shift the blame onto their victims, denying them the compassion and understanding they deserve. This callous disregard for others’ feelings is a key trait that enables narcissists to maintain control and power in their relationships.

6 Denial of Reality:

Narcissists often have distorted perceptions of reality and believe their own versions of events. They often rewrite the past to fit their narrative, which may involve blaming others for their own mistakes or shortcomings.

In their distorted perception of reality, narcissists often create their own versions of events, rewriting the past to fit their narrative and shifting blame onto others for their mistakes or shortcomings. This denial of reality allows them to maintain a sense of superiority and avoid taking responsibility for their actions.

By distorting facts and manipulating situations, narcissists can portray themselves in a positive light while portraying others as the cause of any problems or failures. This behavior reinforces their false self-image and protects them from facing their own shortcomings.

Thus, they continue to perpetuate the cycle of blame, ignoring accountability and refusing to acknowledge events.

7 Fear of Shame:

Narcissists fundamentally fear shame or exposure, and ostensibly shifting blame onto others helps ensure that this spotlight is diverted away from them.

Blaming others is a common tactic narcissists use to deflect attention away from their fear of shame or exposure.

When faced with the possibility of their true selves being exposed, narcissists resort to blaming others as a defense mechanism. This fear of shame is deeply ingrained in them, leading to a constant need to protect their fragile self-image.

8 Power Dynamics:

Blaming others allows narcissists to assert power and create a dynamic where they are always right, reinforcing their position of control in the relationship.

Blaming others not only protects narcissists from their fear of shame, but it also gives them the power to dominate and control relationships by constantly positioning themselves as infallible and in control.

By shifting blame onto others, narcissists create a power dynamic where they are always right, reinforcing their control and authority in the relationship.

This behavior allows them to maintain a sense of superiority and entitlement, ensuring that their needs and desires always come first.

By blaming, narcissists create a pattern of control that can be difficult to break, as they refuse to accept any responsibility or fault for their actions. These manipulation tactics cement their position of power, leaving others feeling manipulated and powerless in the relationship dynamic.

9 Inability to Accept Criticism:

Narcissists struggle to accept criticism, no matter how constructive; therefore, they proactively shift any potential blame onto others.

Related : Narcissists Make You Question Your Reality Using These 11 Tactics

In an attempt to accept criticism, narcissists often avoid taking responsibility by proactively shifting blame onto others.

When faced with feedback or criticism, they immediately respond by avoiding personal responsibility by pointing the finger elsewhere. Constructive criticism, which may provide opportunities for growth, is seen as an attack on their idealized self.

Instead of reflecting on their actions, they redirect blame onto those around them. This defense mechanism protects them from any perceived flaws and reinforces their sense of superiority.

By refusing to acknowledge their shortcomings, narcissists perpetuate a cycle of blame and denial, which hinders personal development and growth.

This pattern of behavior reinforces their inability to accept criticism and take responsibility for their actions.

10 Need for Perfection:

Narcissists believe they are perfect. Any mistake or misstep is seen as a direct threat to this image. Therefore, they blame others to protect their ideal self-image.

Narcissists’ relentless pursuit of perfection stems from a deep-rooted need to maintain an ideal self-image at all costs. In their minds, any flaw or mistake threatens the facade of perfection they project to the world.

To maintain this illusion, they shift the blame onto others whenever their self-image is in danger. Taking responsibility for mistakes would shatter the image of perfection they seek to maintain. By attributing flaws to external sources, they protect themselves from any flaw that could tarnish their inflated self-image.

This behavior protects their self-image and reinforces their belief in their own superiority. The need for perfection becomes a shield against any acknowledgement of their own fallibility.

11 Fear of Vulnerability:

By blaming others, they maintain a shield that protects their own deepest feelings and vulnerabilities. This is a defense mechanism to avoid showing any perceived weakness.

To protect their deepest feelings and vulnerabilities, individuals with narcissistic tendencies often resort to blaming others as a protection mechanism.

By pointing the finger at external sources for any perceived faults or shortcomings, they create a facade of invincibility and superiority. This blame game allows them to avoid confronting their insecurities and fears, and to maintain control and power.

Directing responsibility to others is a shield that prevents anyone from seeing the cracks in their armor.

Weakness is seen as weakness, and to maintain their self-image of strength and perfection, they project their flaws onto those around them. This defense mechanism becomes a way to hide their true selves and maintain a facade of unassailable confidence.

12 Devaluation:

Blaming others is part of the devaluation process where they devalue and humiliate their victims to make themselves feel superior and feed their ego.

Blaming others during the devaluation process allows narcissists to devalue and humiliate their victims, which serves to elevate their sense of superiority and feed their ego.

By constantly shifting blame onto others, narcissists reinforce their fragile self-esteem by positioning themselves as flawless and placing all of their shortcomings on those around them. This behavior is a deliberate tactic to maintain their perceived image of perfection while undermining their victims’ self-worth.

By devaluing, narcissists seek to exert control and dominance over others, which reinforces their belief in their own exceptionalism.

This toxic cycle of blame and humiliation enables narcissists to manipulate situations to their advantage, ensuring that they remain the center of attention and power in their relationships.

FinalWords

Narcissists blame you for everything to avoid taking responsibility, protect their fragile self-esteem, control the situation, project their negative behaviors, lack empathy, and maintain their idealized image.

By shifting blame onto others, they devalue and manipulate their victims to feed their ego.

It is important to recognize these patterns and set boundaries to protect yourself from the toxic behavior of narcissists.