Threatening self-harm.
"If you don't respond back to me, I'm going to hurt myself." This is a major red flag that you are being hoovered. It is extremely manipulative for someone to place the burden of their harm onto you and how you may or may not respond to them. You are not responsible for their actions.
To be hoovered. Hoovering is a type of emotional abuse or emotional blackmail. Hoovering is a type of emotional abuse or emotional blackmail. Hoovering is done by a “narcissistic person” when they think the victim or the person who they abuse or control is seeking to move away.
Protect Yourself from Narcissist Hoovering
If possible, try not to respond at all. Silence can sometimes be the most powerful response when faced with such manipulative tactics. Acknowledge what is happening but do not engage further. Stay assertive and firm in your decision if it's one that you've already made.
Scott goes on to explain that phrases like, 'Call me back or I'm going to take these pills,' 'I'm coming to your house if you don't respond to my text' and, 'I'm so upset, I really need you,' are all examples of hoovering, especially when the other person has made it clear they're trying to disengage from further ...
Hoovering is caused by a narcissist's insecure need for power, control, validation, admiration, and reassurance. A narcissist uses hoovering to reassure their fragile sense of self, suppress their negative emotions, and fulfill their insecure needs.
Narcissists may Hoover in a number of ways: by provoking the victim, waxing poetically about how they've changed, or even more sadistically, flaunting a new partner to their previous one after a particularly callous silent treatment or discard.
When a narcissist has their hoover rejected it contradicts their sense of self, bruises their ego, and triggers their need for narcissistic supply. You can expect to experience a lot of rage, but if you maintain firm boundaries, you'll be able to escape their abuse, rebuild your sense of self, and successfully heal.
Commonly referred to as borderline rage, an inability to control intense bouts of anger and extreme, often unwarranted anger is a feature of borderline personality disorder (BPD). This behavior can result in adverse psychological and social consequences, particularly within the person's relationships.
In borderline personality disorder (BPD), splitting means a person has difficulty accurately assessing another individual or situation. It can lead to intensely polarizing views of others, for instance, as either very good or very bad.
What is Hoovering? Hoovering is a behavioral term used to describe a narcissist (or someone with narcissistic tendencies) who uses emotional manipulation to lure their partner back into a toxic relationship.
The grey rock method is where you deliberately act unresponsive or unengaged so that an abusive person will lose interest in you. Abusive people thrive on emotions and drama. When you act indifferent and don't show your emotions, they may lose interest and stop bothering you. This is known as “grey rocking.”
Anywhere from 2-weeks to 3-months after a deafening silence, the hoovering would begin.
Narcissist flying monkeys are individuals recruited by narcissists to actively participate in narcissistic manipulation and abuse. The term “flying monkeys” was inspired by the enchanted flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, who was sent to do the dirty work for the Wicked Witch of the West.
One of the most common signs of a narcissist is a constant need for praise or admiration. People with this behavior need to feel validation from others and often brag or exaggerate their accomplishments for recognition. They also like to feel appreciated to boost their ego.
To make up for this, the narcissist tries to hoover you back into a relationship by saying things like, “I can't believe that we aren't together anymore,” “I miss you so much,” “Can we meet up try to figure out where we went wrong with us,” and so on.
A monumental weakness in the narcissist is the failure to look internally and flesh out what needs to be worked on. Then, of course, the next step is to spend time improving. The narcissist sabotages any possibility of looking deep within.
Although narcissists act superior, entitled and boastful, underneath their larger-than-life facade lies their greatest fear: That they are ordinary. For narcissists, attention is like oxygen. Narcissists believe only special people get attention.
A narcissist will stop hoovering for three reasons. First, the victim set and maintained firm boundaries that took away all of the narcissistic supply. Second, the narcissist found a new source of supply. Third, the narcissists wants to manipulate the victim by making them feel inadequate, isolated, and alone.
In this case, you might expect examples of narcissist text messages such as “I'm in the hospital, but I'm ok now,” “I can't feel my arm, but I don't think I should worry, should I?”, “I've had some bad news, but there's nothing you can do about it.”