Video summary
The core mechanism by which narcissists trap their victims is the creation of a trauma bond, often compared to Stockholm syndrome or a shared fantasy. In this dynamic, the abuser systematically trains the victim to lack self-awareness so that they remain focused on a third entity—the idealized version of the relationship—rather than recognizing the abuse occurring in real-time. While overt narcissists are easily identifiable because they openly proclaim their superiority and abuse without hiding it, covert narcissists operate differently by presenting themselves as nice, quiet, and shy individuals who gain trust through empathy and victim-playing. This deceptive facade allows them to isolate the victim and build a deep emotional connection that makes leaving incredibly difficult once the trap is sprung.
The cycle of abuse typically begins with an intense phase known as love bombing, where the narcissist puts the victim on a pedestal, promising a shared future and making them feel uniquely understood against the rest of the world. This period triggers chemical releases in the brain similar to those experienced by drug addicts, creating a high that the victim attributes to finding a soulmate. Once the narcissist feels secure that the victim is not going anywhere, they abruptly shift into the devaluation stage. Here, they quickly dismantle the previous certainty by cheating, lying, stealing, and engaging in various forms of abuse, leaving the victim in a state of limbo and uncertainty. This emotional roller coaster causes significant stress and memory issues, as the narcissist alternates between extreme neglect and sudden returns where they act as if nothing happened, further confusing the victim and preventing them from processing the reality of the situation.
To ensure the victim cannot escape, the narcissist employs severe isolation tactics, making their life revolve entirely around themselves while draining the victim's resources and support systems. They often launch a smear campaign early in the relationship, manipulating friends and family to believe that the victim is the villain who deserves the abuse. By controlling the narrative and planting specific imagery in the minds of others, they ensure that when the victim tries to seek help or explain the truth, no one believes them. This isolation extends to constant contact through calls and texts, designed to keep the victim's mind occupied with the abuser so they cannot think rationally about leaving. The narcissist's ultimate fear is abandonment, as losing control over the victim means losing their source of supply, which is why they will go to extreme lengths to prevent the victim from walking away, even after years of abuse.
Breaking free from this cycle requires a conscious decision to stop all contact with the narcissist and anyone connected to them, a strategy known as going no-contact. The video emphasizes that there is no magic book or quick fix; healing only begins when the toxic influence is completely removed, as even a single phone call can trigger hoovering attempts designed to suck the victim back in for more supply. Recovery involves blocking the abuser on all platforms and focusing entirely on personal healing rather than seeking revenge or trying to reconcile with someone who views the relationship as ownership. The narrator concludes that while the process is difficult, it is possible to move on by prioritizing one's own well-being and understanding that true freedom comes from cutting off the source of the trauma, allowing the brain to stop producing stress chemicals and finally begin the journey toward recovery.
Read the full video transcript
The narcissist traps you through the use
of a trauma bond.
It's a shared fantasy
or Stockholm syndrome.
Stockholm syndrome derives from
Stockholm in Sweden
where some bank robbers took some people
hostage
and then the hostages ended up falling
in love with the bank robbers.
So what does this tell us?
This tells us that people end up falling
in love with their abusers
because the abuser creates this bond and
they use it to trap you.
But at the time that you're in it, you
may not realize you're trapped
or you may not realize the full effect
of it.
You don't fully become aware of what
happens
until after the relationship is over.
Because while you're still in it,
you're being trained to lack
selfawareness.
Because if you're self-aware,
then you're aware of your abuser.
So, they keep you unaware of who you
really are.
and they get you to focus on this third
entity, the shared fantasy.
And this is what keeps you trapped in an
abusive relationship.
This is something that covert
narcissists typically do.
Overt narcissists will openly proclaim
that they are amazing
and they will abuse people without
hiding anything.
So, you already know what you're dealing
with with the overt narcissist,
and it's usually much easier to avoid
them.
But covert narcissists are different.
It's hidden
because they're usually very nice,
quiet, shy people.
And they gain people's trust by being so
nice.
Many covert narcissists play the victim
to get people to feel sorry for them.
So they play on your empathy.
Co narcissists are the ones who like to
their victims.
And this all starts in the love bombing
phase.
They put you on a pedestal. They tell
you how great you are.
They make you feel like it's not going
to end because the focus is on their
promises and the future as though they
share the same interests as you
while everyone else is just different.
or they don't understand the bond that
you share together.
Or other people are bad
until it just ends up being
you and them
against the world
literally.
And then once they've got you where they
want you
and they know you're not going anywhere,
now the next stage starts
and that is the devaluation stage.
So this is where they devalue you,
they put you down, belittle you, demean
you.
This is where the trauma begins.
And it's where they start cheating on
you, lying to you, stealing from you.
They might physically abuse you,
mentally abuse you, sexually abuse you.
So, first they build you up and you have
all of these big plans
and then later that night or the next
day they're gone.
They didn't say anything.
You may look for them, but you can't
find them.
And then maybe eventually you do find
them
and you see that they're with someone
else.
They're cheating on you.
So,
you're constantly worrying. You're
constantly wondering where they are.
You're constantly chasing after them.
You're wondering what they're doing,
wondering who they're doing it with.
You're waiting for them to come home,
wondering whether they're going to come
back. You're worrying about if they're
going to be mad or you're anticipating
if they might be happy.
And this is not a normal way to live
your life.
This is all just a part of the trauma
bond.
They build you up to make you feel like
this is real
and then they pull away really quick.
So then you're left in limbo.
You're left in a state of uncertainty or
neglect
because first there was this utmost
certainty.
You had these dreams.
You believe that you shared the same
goals for the future
and then all of a sudden they're gone.
So then you're trying to figure out what
is going on.
And it's not that you're just more
susceptible to it than other people
might be or you're just easily confused.
No, the love bombing phase is very
intense.
They know exactly what they're doing.
They're master manipulators.
And when they do these things,
chemicals
are being released in your brain.
And it is the same high that drug
addicts get
you to attribute this to them.
But you don't know what's going on.
You just think you found your soulmate
because they do things that are too
subtle to pick up on. So you think you
found the person you're really in love
with,
the person who is going to be there for
you no matter what
because you feel like they've proved
this to you. You believe it.
And this is the whole point of what
they're doing. It's designed to gain
your trust.
And they might do this for years.
So when they walk out the door
and you have plans together for the next
5 years,
you don't know what's going on
because they don't tell you.
And it is all intentional.
But these chemicals are being released
in your brain. And even when they're
devouring you, you get stress chemicals
released in your brain. And they might
do things that are so confusing and
hurtful to really throw your whole world
upside down.
And then guess who is there for you?
They are. They come back like nothing
happened or they say they don't know
what happened. They lost their mind
and it is all nonsense.
They know what just happened.
They just cheated on you. They just lie
to you. They just stole from you. And
everything else they're saying is
nonsense.
But you're thinking about it. You're
questioning yourself.
You're asking yourself if it's true.
And so you talk about it. or they may
not apologize, but sometimes they will
apologize, especially if it's in the
beginning, because they know when
they've gone too far.
So, they try to pull you back in again.
They might start being nice again. They
might buy you gifts. They might tell you
things are going to be different
because they know what they're doing.
It is this up and down,
this emotional roller coaster
where you're always wondering what's
going to happen next and it's just one
extreme to another extreme.
It's like they slept with their best
friends,
but then last night you were talking
about marriage
and this shrinks and swells the part of
your brain that deals with memory.
So you can experience memory loss from
all of this. You don't know what is
going on.
And another thing they do is they
isolate you. They make your life revolve
around them.
They make themselves dependent on you
for everything.
So they may not know anything. They may
not work. They may not have any money.
So when they start abusing you and
devouring you and you discover that all
of these future plans are never going to
become a reality,
what are you supposed to do?
Kick them out of your house? Get them a
place to stay?
Pay for them for the rest of their life?
This is what these people do
because they want to isolate you. They
want endless supply from you.
They want everything you have.
So they will make it difficult for you
to leave them so that you can't just
walk away
even after everything you've been
through, everything they put you
through.
And they will even have everyone looking
at you like you're the one abandoning
them. They won't let you spend a minute
alone.
They'll be texting and calling you all
day because they want to constantly keep
your mind on them.
They know that once you spend some time
alone or you have some time to think
rationally about this, you're going to
wake up and they're going to lose you.
So, they have to be on you all the time.
And this is how your life ends up
falling apart.
because they're not there to help you
with your life. They're not there to
listen about what you want to do. So, if
you want to start a business or live a
stable life while you're dealing with
one of these people, good luck. They
don't care about your future. They don't
care about your children.
It's just all about themselves and what
they can get out of you.
And another way they isolate you is
through the use of a smear campaign.
They will talk bad about you to everyone
around you. And it may seem like they
only do this at the end of the
relationship, but they've been doing
this from the very beginning. They got
to all of these people first.
So that when you go and tell people
about what they've been doing to you, no
matter how bad it may be, doesn't matter
if they cheated on you, lied to you,
stole from you, doesn't matter if they
spit in your face and called you names,
nobody cares. And nobody is going to do
anything to help you.
Because once the narcissist has already
gotten to these people, people tend to
believe the first news they hear. And
narcissists are master maniplators. It
is essential for their survival.
They have to be able to manipulate
people in order to get supply.
So they lie to people. They exaggerate
things. They spread halftruths.
They paint you as the villain. And it is
really exaggerated
to the point where if you tell anyone
about the things that they have been
doing to you, as far as these people are
concerned, it is your problem now and
you deserved it because they are
disgusted by what they've heard about
you. So they don't care about anything
that happens to you now.
And it's not even about anything you're
meant to have done. It is the story. It
is the narrative behind it,
the imagery that they have planted in
people's minds.
Narcissists are often excellent
storytellers.
They know how to sway people in a
certain direction
so that you're isolated,
so that no one believes you
and you can't get rid of them and
everyone believes they're nice and
everyone feels sorry for them.
So they are the type of person where if
you do something wrong to them, these
people will come after you because they
want to defend this poor, nice, innocent
narcissist.
So then the narcissist goes and tells
everyone,
you cheated on them, you lied to them,
you stole from them, you hit them,
whatever they did to you, they just
project it.
And then they go and they tell everyone
that you did it. And then you're
isolated
after all of these things have happened
to you.
And now even you're obsessing over the
narcissist
whom everyone seems to love and adore
and feel sorry for.
You feel addicted to them, to your own
abuser,
who even lied and covered up the abuse
and told everyone you're the abuser.
And it's because those chemicals aren't
being released in your brain anymore.
So now it's like you're trying to come
off a drug
and this is what they're trying to do.
They want to get in your head.
So, what are you supposed to do about
this
after a narcissist has come into your
life and
done this to you, hurt you, abused you,
turned everyone against you?
How do you move on from this?
I can tell you that there is a way for
you to get over this,
but you've got to do the work.
There is no video. There is no book.
There isn't anyone who can tell you
anything that's going to fix it.
And actually, the most important thing
for you now is to go no contact
with this person and anyone, any fly
monkey connected to them.
Stop talking to them
because even though weeks, months, or
even years have gone by and you may
think you're doing great,
all it often takes is just one phone
call and you will be right back.
That's why they call it hoovering
because it sucks you right back in.
And the only reason why they hoover you
is because they think they can get more
supply out of you. It's not because they
want to get you back. It's because they
want supply.
And they want supply because they're
thinking about you. They saw you on
social media.
So, what you got to do now is you got to
block them on social media. Make it
difficult for them to have access to
you, to see what you're doing, to see
what is going on in your life.
Because if you don't get rid of them,
your life is over.
You're never going to get better. You're
never going to heal.
You will never heal
as long as you're in contact with them.
And that is why [clears throat] their
biggest fear is abandonment
because they already know once they're
out of the picture.
Once they no longer have any influence
or control over you and your life,
things are going to get better for you.
You are going to heal. You are going to
move on.
The problem is that they think they own
you for life, no matter how many years
have gone by.
If you have more supply, they will
figure out a way to get it from you.
So,
don't mess with them. Don't mess with
the narcissist.
Don't even bother trying to get revenge
on them.
What you need to do now is you need to
focus on your healing.
Focus on what is going to make you feel
better.
on what is going to help you to move on
from this.
And I am available for you. I do have uh
a one-on-one coaching program that I
offer to victims of narcissistic abuse
which you can book through my website
which is narciviver.co.uk.
So, if this video was helpful for you,
give it a thumbs up, give it a hype, and
I will talk to you in another video very
soon.