Face 5: The avoidant ghost.
This version of the male covert narcissist doesn’t avoid protecting his inner world; he avoids punishing. He disappears not out of fear of closeness, but as a power move. His absence is a calculated silence used to shift the dynamic and destabilize your emotional footing. He leaves when your needs are showing up. If you’re sick, grieving, or overwhelmed, he’s gone. If your mother is dying or your child is hurt, he suddenly can’t handle the pressure. You’re told you’re too needy, or too dramatic, or too much. His message is clear: your emotions are a burden, and if you want him to stay, you have to erase them.
Over time, you learn to ask for nothing. You stop expressing pain. You stop reaching out, and you stop taking up space. You shrink your feelings to keep him from walking away again. You teach yourself to be easier, more agreeable, less demanding—not because it feels good, but because it’s the only way to keep him from vanishing. The avoidant ghost punishes you for needing him. And the longer it goes on, the more you internalize the belief that needing anything at all is what drove him away. You learn to survive on scraps. You learn to perform. And slowly, you lose the parts of yourself that once believed that love included being seen, supported, or safe.
Read More: 5 Weird S£xµal Habits of a Narcissist.
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