WHY DID I STAY

 I divorced my abuser after 48 years. Why didn't I leave sooner? Why did I stay so long? I didn't want to disappoint my parents; I'd made my bed now I needed to lie in it. I had children and grandchildren and felt responsible for setting a good example. That was my last barrier to leaving was how it would affect my grandchildren.

When my children were young, I wanted to leave him, but I didn't want my children to come from a "broken home" not realizing that it was already broken. I thought that if he was screaming at me then he wasn't screaming at them. However, I overlooked the fact that being made to witness the abuse taught unspoken lessons in how to treat others and how to allow oneself to be treated. I wanted to honor the vow I took, "til death do us part".

I stayed because I feared he'd be more dangerous if I left.

If I allow a certain level of disrespect I could stay. I wanted to maintain the illusion.

He was a rageaholic, the screaming was frequent. I loved him, he loved me, he said. He was a dominating, fault finding overlord. I thought he would change. He did, he got worse, angrier and more demanding. Was it as bad as I thought?  No, it was worse.

Stockholm Syndrome, I felt sorry for him.

His future faking, how it was going to be....it wasn't.

Bread crumbing, a bit of affection sprinkled in with the abuse.

Why did I stay? My body was saying NO. I was experiencing panic attacks, avoidant behavior, hypervigilance, bleeding ulcers. I was hyperalert and hyperaware.

Red flags don't look like red flags when they feel like home.

It's hard to kiss the lips at night...

 https://youtube.com/watch?v=pjkLf_X88WM&si=fI_ScYRgNVf79rzp

The Love of his Life

His Ex Wife

He'll tell them all

"She left me when I started dating

After 40 years

She did" 

Shopping for other women

Putting himself on the meat market

Planning a tryst

"You're the Love of my Life" he says

Lying eyes he has

Thinks it's funny.

EFFECTIVE MANIPULATIVE TACTICS

Narcissists are Masters of Projection. What they accuse you of is what they are doing.

Narcissists are masters of emotional manipulation.  Since emotion overrides logic, fake crying is a great tactic for the manipulative narcissist to use, since "men don't cry". 

A man crying as he tells his version of the truth can be profoundly persuasive. The most astute observer of human nature can be easily swayed to the narcissist's point of view by using this most effective manipulation tactic, especially with empathic individuals.

Since one rarely sees a grown man cry, that experience can be greatly moving and persuasive especially in an intimate group setting.  Crying, while in an intimate group can elicit sympathy for the perceived injury of the wounded who portays the other as the evil villian, the abuser.

Narcissists use projection to sway their audience. What they are doing is projected onto the other. Taking responsibility is not in their repertoire so any manner of deceit is used. Truth is an inconvenient fact best avoided. Blame shifting is a tactic most useful in such situations. 

Sacrificing the truth is a small price to pay to uphold and maintain one's image. Portraying oneself as the beleaguered abused victim and the actual victim as the abuser, serves their interest in maintaining the false front of the narcissist.

In narcissistic education circles it is referred to as:

DARVO, 

Deny

Attack

Reverse

Victim and 

Offender

The DARVO tactic is used to conceal the truth of their behavior to their audience and to control how others perceive the target and the conflict. The abuser is able to concoct a story to cultivate biases against the target and to rally bystanders to their cause.

Time to go

 It was when he announced he was going to get a gun that I realized things were getting serious. I felt in danger and knew it was definitely time to make changes.

He was always volatile. He loved me sooo much, I was his sweetie pie, and maybe hours later he would be screaming at me about some minor issue or maybe something that just popped into his head, something I had said in the past or something that offended his delicate nature, or just because he was bored and needed some excitement, a new crisis of the day. 

The days were filled with crises, a few times a week, once a week or every two weeks, I realized once I started charting it. It left me trying to avoid him for the most part to avoid the conflict that my presence seemed to elicit.

The constant unpredictability left me anxious and nervous, waiting for the frequent attacks. My sleeping suffered, as did most other aspects of my life. Long walks were a temporary respite. Praying for relief and direction was something I could do. Spending time with friends was helpful, though he didn't really like most of them and said critical and insulting things about them to try to dissuade me from spending time with them. Though he was kind to my friends, seems his disapproval was only expressed to me of course.

I didn't realize it until I started journaling. I was always caught off guard or recovering my equilibrium from the ongoing attacks, trying to figure out what I could do differently to avoid enraging him. My journal showed me the frequency of the rages and the triggers to his anger and what I noticed was that it didn't make sense. There was no rhyme or reason to it. In fact the changability in his thinking waved like a huge red flag. That's why when he decided he wanted to get a gun I knew it was time for me to come up with an exit strategy.