They can know they're hurting your feelings, but as long as it elevates their status, they may not care. Someone living with narcissism does cry. They can feel regret, remorse, and sadness. These emotions, however, don't often have roots in empathy.
It is a myth that narcissism is synonymous with inability to experience sadness. Like anyone else, people with NPD still experience emotions and crying. However, their experiences are much more likely to be self-serving and less likely to be rooted in empathy.
A narcissist will commonly try to incite guilt and shame. They may spin the narrative to blame their partner for why the relationship failed. This maintains their grandiose perception of themselves and gives them the leverage to try and convince others to empathize with them.
Most true narcissists don't need time to heal from a break up as their initial feelings about the relationship were likely insincere or absent. It's not unheard of for a narcissist to have someone already waiting in the wings as a new source of support, or have their exit strategy carefully planned out.
If your ex had a narcissistic personality, chances are they moved on to the next relationship pretty soon after your breakup.
They're not going to contact you immediately following a disengagement or breakup. A narcissist will wait months or even years until you've almost forgotten them and can think of them without fear. If the narcissist in your life is an ex, they may wait until the relationship you had after them has ended to strike.
Learn Why Narcissists “Hoover” and What to Do
Beware of narcissists trying to lure you back with hoovering. Breakups with narcissists don't always end the relationship. Many won't let you go, even when it's they who left the relationship, and even when they're with a new partner. They won't accept “no.”
Unfortunately, there's no good answer to that question. Some can return right after a breakup, while others may take months or years. It's not rare for a narcissist to go between multiple exes. Generally, narcissists often do try to return to their past relationships.
It is common for people with a narcissistic personality disorder to regret discarding or losing someone, but it does not mean what you might think. If they feel regret, it is not because they hurt you. It is for losing something that they value. You are a possession, not a real person.
A narcissist will end the relationship if they no longer receive their narcissistic supply from you and/ or if they have found someone else. However, it is often the case that a narcissistic person will have several partners, the so-called “narcissistic harem”.
Narcissists can feel emotional pain, but not usually in the same way as others. The emotional pain they may feel is usually related to underlying selfish needs. Underneath the displays of superiority and sense of entitlement, they often feel empty, powerless, and shameful, which they perceive as weakness.
It's true: Your narcissistic ex will remember you but not — never — in the way you hope they will, as the “great love of their life”. Most of the time they won't even think about you and you know why: They're too busy spinning their web to snare the next unsuspecting spider.
There are a few different reasons why narcissists might cry. One possibility is that they are crying because they feel overwhelmed. They may be experiencing a lot of negative emotions and not know how to deal with them. This can lead to them feeling out of control and eventually, tears.
You are always searching for something to feed the deep wound that is within. This becomes the life of a narcissist. As you can see, the more you move on from them and create your own happiness, the more this upsets them, which is why they want to tear you down.
True narcissists (people with NPD) don't usually miss their exes. What narcissists do miss, however, is the attention you gave them when you were together. They need their "narcissistic supply," someone to be a constant source of care and support.
Unfortunately for a narcissist, she says, the next person will always end up being boring because time breeds familiarity, requiring the narcissist to look for something new. "They are always waiting for the next new thing," she adds. "You are not boring, narcissists are just bored with everything."
A tactic that narcissists will often use once they realize that they've lost control over you is self-victimization. When a narcissist victimizes themselves it means that they label themselves as victims and blame their problems on external factors.
Put Your Needs First. Narcissists make others feel guilty about being happy because they expect everyone to put the narcissist's happiness first. If you're not constantly praising them or accepting their criticisms that make them feel superior, they won't be satisfied.
Generally, how do narcissists feel when you move on? Naturally, narcissism is characterized by envy. Besides having an unreasonably high sense of self-importance and requiring constant, narcissists tend to envy others. So, when the narcissist sees you with someone else, it may not go well with them.
Simply put, a narcissist will become obsessed with an ex when he or she refuses to remain “friends.” The narcissist may be very open about this obsession, dragging as many people as possible into it.
The narcissist often keeps his exes close by as a backup in case their current relationship doesn't work out. They also want their ex around to continually feed their ego with the attention and admiration they so crave.
But here is the rub: Over time, the narcissist usually senses that you are pulling away, and it is then that your problems take on a different form. Narcissists hate feeling that they might be rejected or that you might conclude that they are defective. So, they go into compensation mode by turning the tables.