DIVORCING A NARCISSIST PART 1: Are you REALLY divorcing a Narcissist?

The only thing harder than being married to a narcissist is divorcing one.

For starters, it’s important to identify if you are really dealing with a narcissistic spouse. Given the popularity of the term some people may think they have a narcissistic partner when in reality they are not. So before you start calling the National Guard lets identify some characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder:

**Disclaimer** It’s important to realize that narcissism is a personality disorder often linked to other personality disorders (Bipolar, Borderline, Psychopathy, etc). If you feel unsafe, please talk to a healthcare professional about your situation.

This are some characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder:

• Narcissists are preoccupied with fantasies of limitless self-importance, success, and power.
• They over-exaggerate their accomplishments, popularity, and social importance.
• They exploit or take advantage of others for personal gain.
• They require constant feeding of their egos, and thus crave excessive admiration.
• They pit people against each other to get what they want.
• They divide people to conquer and gain power over them.
• They will sequester you from concerned friends and family.
• They manipulate by influencing emotions like fear and anger, employing threats and lies.

When divorcing a narcissist, you must be prepared for a number of things.

• First, and foremost, your legal fees are going to be higher than they should be because the narcissist will draw out the process and make you deal with frequent court appearances.
• You will deal with ridiculous and illogical demands and positions.
• You and your attorney will feel like you are putting out fires almost daily.
• Be prepared for invasions of privacy, rude and emotionally charged encounters with your spouse, and for you to feel helpless.

Divorcing a narcissist is made even worse by the fact that they typically try to find attorneys who will channel their narcissism throughout the litigation. However, there is a strategy to divorcing a narcissist!

In the second part of our series, we will discuss successful tips and strategies for divorcing a narcissist.

If you want to begin the process