Number five: Admitting to Gaslighting
So, in this make-believe world, the narcissist would say something like, “Yes, I manipulated situations to confuse you and make you doubt yourself to make sure that my needs were always prioritized over yours and to always maintain control over your mind and your emotions.
I often made you feel like you were at fault, even when you were right. Sometimes, I secretly messed with your things and your important documents to make you think you were losing your mind. Sometimes, I smiled and acted like everything was fine while seething under the surface and quietly plotting against you.
Any gaslighting on my part, of course, was subtle and sneaky, but I wish I could have realized how harmful it was for you to be on the receiving end of this kind of constant gaslighting, where you would accurately lay out the facts of a situation, and yet I could still not admit that you were right. It’s in these moments when my pathological need to protect my ego and maintain my sense of superiority would override reality and lead me to deny or distort the truth.”
Fat chance that you’d ever hear a narcissist admit that they were gaslighting you, and there are many reasons why they wouldn’t do this, including their lack of insight, their need to preserve their flawless self-image, and their deep desire to avoid accountability for their actions. So, instead of admitting that they gaslighted you, they will continue to deny, deny, deny, and find people to triangulate and support their distorted narrative.
