When Love Is a Lie: Narcissistic Partners & the Pathological Relationship Agenda
[Also by Zari Ballard:Stop Spinning, Start Breathing (Narcissist Abuse Recovery & the Road to Feeling Normal)]Deliberately non-clinical in content,When Love Is a Lieis a book based solely on my personal perspective and experience concerning narcissistic behavior. In other words, readers seeking medical explanations for narcissistic behavior or positive coping strategies for dealing with a narcissistic or psychopathic partner will be disappointed.When Love Is a Lieis about recognizing the reality of our situation when we love a narcissist or sociopath... and also about understanding our own codependency to the very drama that we claim to hate. It is my hope that, by demystifying typical narcissistic behavior patterns, we can move away from fear and escape the darkness before too much time has passed. I will outline the logical thought process that, after 12-long years with my own narcissistic abuser, helped me to accept the final discard and mentally let go of the pathological, narcissistic lie. It's a process for which I am most grateful and one that I feel could make a difference to others.Knowing that passive-aggressive manipulation is, by its very nature, a difficult dynamic to comprehend, I make no attempt to sugarcoat the facts (as I believe many books on narcissism tend to do). That being said, instead of being difficult to write, the book itself - the writing process - was, indeed, very cathartic for me. I know now, of course, that I was simply ready to write it...to expose the pathological relationship agenda and admit to (and discuss) the codependency factor ..... to pass on what I learned from the experience and to share some words of inspiration given to me by some wise women (and men) who had been there, done that. It was, simply, time to make it happen.IfWhen Love Is a Liesucceeds in providing even just a single reader with a validation of her experience and the strength to either stay away or make an escape,then I will have more than exceeded my goals for this little book.