By. Anuradha
Opposite ends of a magnet attract each other and unfortunately, narcissists also can attract empaths towards them. Empaths are the people who are genuinely kind and emotional and it takes only a few tricks for a narcissist to attract one. In most of the relationships narcissists are having, their partner is often an empath and we thought of talking about the seven stages of a relationship between an empath and a narcissist for you to get a better understanding of the nature of their bond.
#1. The initial attraction.
Narcissists have a good understanding of the nature of people and therefore, they know how exactly to attract an empath. When they feel interested in an empath, narcissists would first devote their entire time and energy on that person. He/she would make the empath feel special, always trying to be with them and treating them kindly and respectfully. This would eventually lead the empath to believe that they have finally found the love of their life and thus, they start doting on the narcissist.
#2. The one in control.
Narcissists always need to have the upper hand in the relationship and they feel comfortable only when they know that they are in control of the situation. So, once they realize that the empath is attracted to them, they would slowly take control of the relationship. They would be the ones deciding things and empaths would not feel offended by this as empaths are natural givers and they always try to make others happy. So, empaths only consider this as something that narcissists are doing out of love.
#3. The relationship starts to be all about the narcissist.
A narcissist would gradually start giving less attention and care towards the partner. They spend more time focusing on themselves and the empaths find them trying hard to win back the love and attention their narcissist partner once gave them. The empath would think that he/she has done something wrong to hurt their partner and instead of thinking about their pain, they will be more concerned about what the narcissist is going through and eventually, the relationship will be all about the narcissist.
#4. The first breaking point.
By this time, the empath would realize that their relationship has been nothing but a game played on by the narcissist. The empath would slowly start working back on him/herself but when the narcissist realizes that he/she is going to lose the hold of the empath, they would once again try to entrap them in their mesh.
#5. The blame-shifting.
Narcissists are good at blame-shifting. When he/she is sure that the empath is back in their mesh, they would start acting the role of the victim. They would act as if the empath has done a great fault to him/her and would come up with so many lies to prove it. As empaths have a sensitive heart, they would also start believing in these lies and will resolve never to discuss what they feel with the narcissist. This consolidates the power the narcissist has over the empath and by constantly manipulating and gaslighting their empath partner, they would hold the upper hand in the relationship.
#6. The final realization.
By this stage, empaths realize what they have been through. Empaths understand that they have only been under a toxic influence and they slowly start getting detached from the narcissist. It would be extremely difficult and painful for the empath, but this final realization would help them to find the strength to leave a narcissist and to stay away from their manipulation.
#7. Liberation.
When empaths finally leave the narcissist, it would make a great difference in the life of the empath but not in narcissists. The narcissist would continue their life as they believe that they are perfect and everyone should only admire their greatness. So, they would act as if nothing ever happened and would go looking for another victim.
However, it will be extremely difficult for empaths to heal themselves. It would take a lot of time and energy but they would also heal with the time and would make sure not to fall for anything like this again.