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Narcissists and Memory

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 29 - 11PM

My EXNH had an unbelievable memory. He could remember details and dates like no one I had seen before. However, there was only one reason why he remembered these dates and that was to garner Narcissistic Supply.

It's a great question, Aceone Lady. Whether their memory is different than ours. The answer is yes. Studies tell us we have two different memories for the same situation. One is explicit memory - a memory of the details of the experience and the other is Implicit memory - a memory of the emotions connected to the experience. For example, smelling a baked apple pie reminds me of my Grandma and brings about an emotional response of missing her. That is implicit memory. Explicit memory would be my ability to remember how to make the pie. - the details of the experience.

Managing Obsessive Thoughts

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 27 - 9PM

We all want to stop thinking about him, right? We want to stop obsessing, but we don't know how. We cannot erase the Narcissist from our brain. It is not possible. However, we can retrain our brain.

You will have thoughts in the future about your ex that you'd rather not have. You cannot control thoughts that come to mind. Memory is memory. Once created, it cannot be erased.

However, the good news is you CAN control HOW you will respond to the thoughts that pop into your head and that is the key to reducing your obsessive thoughts.

The 6 Steps to Relationship Recovery

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 18 - 6PM

Step 1 - Understand It

We made a commitment to educate ourselves on the pathology of Personality Disordered Individuals (PDIs). Knowledge is Power!

Step 3 – Get It Out

We share with others in order to validate and process the trauma we experienced.

Step 3 – No Contact

We came to accept the only way to restore our sanity and regain control of our lives is through “No Contact.”

Step 4 – Get Real

We no longer deny the reality of our past and are ready to face our anger, resentment and fear.

Step 5 – Wake Up

We tap into the power of our mind to awaken our spirit and take back control of our lives.

Step 6 – Heal

We have a newfound compassion for ourselves and have made a commitment to live in the moment. We are fully alive

What we can learn from Mel Gibson

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 16 - 11AM

I was just re-telling a story to a friend about the last time I went to a Sox game on the south side in the evening. I was there with a guy I had been out with once or twice before. There were four of us - myself, him and his two friends.

I disagreed with something he said. He lost it. No joke, he started yelling and screaming at me in front of his friends. So much so that I literally had to get up and walk away from him because it was so bad. After I pulled myself together in the bathroom and returned, he and his friends had left and I was there alone to find my way back home from the south side.

Moving On

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 13 - 12PM

As we've discussed, when we try to get over a narcissist, our minds are experiencing severe Cognitive Dissonance. I first learned about Cognitive Dissonance in college. Basically, it is the difficulty of trying to hold two opposing thoughts or beliefs at the same time.

At the time, I smoked cigarettes and the easiest way for me to understand Cognitive Dissonance was to think of how I felt about my habit. I enjoyed it, but yet, I hated it because I knew it was bad for me, right?

Cognitive Dissonance leads to obsessive thought because we are trying to make sense of a situation that doesn’t make sense. How can I love something that I also hate? That is the crux of the issue when trying to get over a narcissist.

Blog Talk Radio Show Tonight on Narcissism

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 12 - 7PM

Melanie Tonia Evans and I will discuss the importance of bringing your focus back to yourself in order to disconnect from the 'pulls' of the narcissist. Why do we feel so energetically enmeshed? What is the phenomena that is taking place? How can we 'cut the chords' and change our vibration so that it is no longer a match for the narcissist?

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/empowered-love/2010/07/13/narcissitic-centr...

Tonight, July 12th
10:00 p.m. CST
Call-in number
(347) 989-1262

Seven Reasons Why Your Break-up is Killing You

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 9 - 4PM

Time heals all wounds. At least, that’s what they tell you when you mention that you’ve been dumped recently (along with giving you that look).

But, does time really heal the wound that’s been brought to you by a break up or divorce?

I think that this is a common misunderstanding. Time would not heal anything if it didn’t force you to go through a certain process.

Time is the medium, the healing is done by you.

Time does heal to a certain degree, but the wounds are not healed effectively, let alone completely, if you don’t contribute anything to the healing process yourself.

Time makes you forget, but your problems are still there. Hidden, but present.

Conscious Healing

The Hidden Benefits of Struggle

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 8 - 11AM

Strength grows out of struggle. Moses was not born with a silver spoon. He was born to slaves and fortunate to be raised in the kings' palace. He never knew what it meant to face adversity. He had everything he needed as an adopted son of the kings' daughter.

Things changed for the worst when he attempted to fight for the right of his brethren. He killed to achieve that. He fled to exile when it occured to him that people knew about the murder.

Fleeing from the palace where he had security and good things of life exposed him to the other side of life. He struggled to survive and took up a job as a shepherd. You imagine how difficult it is to suddenly become a sheep keeper from the status of a kings' son.

The Healing Power of Exercise

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 8 - 11AM

Great post, NinjaGirl. I cannot speak highly enough about the healing power of exercise!

I have become addicted to the endorphin rush of working out. Without it, I get crabby.

Working out while in recovery is hard to do because it is the last thing you feel like doing. However, I have found certain exercise can help you channel your anger. Kickboxing is a great exercise for this purpose. My kickboxing instructor used to say:

"I love watching Lisa kickbox because it's so obvious she has a very specific target in mind when she is kicking and punching."

And he was right. I did! I was getting over my EXN and to picture him as a target when I hit helped incredibly with my anger.

Happy Independence Day!

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jul 2 - 11AM

As we approach the holiday weekend here in the states, I realize how grateful I am for the independence and freedom of speech we enjoy here.

I believe all members of our forum here enjoy such freedom in their respective countries. Therefore, I thought it a good time to recognize the importance of such freedom.

Having freedom puts us in a unique position to give voice to a cause. In this case, building awareness on narcissism. There are many women in the world today who would be killed if they spoke up about any kind of injustice.

I learned recently that one of my ancestors was about to be tried in the Salem Witch trials, but died before she could be heard.

Narc Realities - Supply Economics by Baddream

Lisa E. Scott's picture
Submitted by Lisa E. Scott on Jun 29 - 11PM

More great member advice! This one is from Baddream:

I have spent hours and days reading some of the posts on the Psych forum, especially some of the very frank replies by the narcissists. It has taken me all these hours and all these years to really, truly fully understand what motivates them, every day, every hour, every second of their life.

With this understanding also comes the realization that there is absolutely nothing that I could ever do to make him change. Many of us continue to hope perhaps he will someday realize what he has lost, get help, change his ways, and come back to us as the man we first met once upon a time.