Did you think you were going to be living a good life, but the man who brought it to you has been making it enotionally painful instead? Certainly, your marriage or relationship may be played out on an attractive stage--you live a lifestyle that many looking in from the outside might actually envy. However, you know you are filling increasingly miserable. You probably awaken each morning with butterflies aflight in your stomach. How is your partner going to treat you today? you silently wonder. Of course, he might greet you with verbal abuse and thus, the butterflies swirl with greater speed yet. Then again, he might offer a kind word. You are grateful for this morsal, and your anxiety begins to dissipate. But then, just when you think everything is going to be okay, he slings out words that once again wound you deeply. Are you confused as to why your partner treats you this way? I know I was when I was living in the midst of this type of marriage. Why did he call me ungrateful all the time? Why did he constantly tell me that numerous women out there would be thrilled to take my place? Why? Probably because my husband was suffering from a pathological level of narcissism and indeed, while I believed we had a partnership, he was a man who would be king. I was not being a loyal and grateful enough subject. However, probably no matter how much I had done to appease him, it would never have been enough. A narcissist has to be right. He must have power over you. Of course, this means he must make you wrong. And frankly, as my husband said more than once, the narcissist believes it is better to be fearerd than loved. Are you facing something similar to what I faced in your relationship? You might also be pained by the fact he calls you ungrateful when you try to show him, by your every move, in fact, that you are there for him and your relationship. Well, at least you probably did so in the past. However, after suffering the slings and arrows he has been sending your way for seemingly ages now, you likely feel so hopeless and helpless that indeed, you might hardly have a good word to say. And even if you try to speak those you are thinking and wish to express, you may discover that you can hardly string a complete sentence together anymore in your supposedly beloved one's presence. But then, when you realize that likely anything you say will be attacked--that somehow he'll make you wrong yet one again, doesn't it make sense you've become practically mute? If you can relate to any of what I've just said, or if you still are lost in a cloud of confusion as to why your partner is treating you as he does, you might want to linger at this site for awhile. Discover there is likely good reason for your emotional pain--or depression that refuses to lift. And if you feel you are going crazy, learn that it makes perfect sense why you''d feel this way. You are living in a toxic environment, after all. So, are you here in part because you want to know if you are truly misperceiving most everything that now transpires between the two of you--as your partner may well be suggesting that you are? You may also want the almost constant feelings of anxiety, fear, worthlessness, and that sense that you can't do anything right to all disappear from your life, isn't that so? In fact, don't you want to step outside the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness in which you're now undoubtedly encased and instead, believe in a better tomorrow--one where you will rediscover the self that loves life while, at the same time, knowing inner contentment and peace? While I certainly don't know you and what your life is like today, I do suspect that I have some idea. And, having walked in similar shoes, I want better for you. I hope I can provide some of the guidance you need to get from where you are today to where you'd prefer to be--or at least, to give yourself the chance of discovering what your life could become versus remain on the downslide you'r'e undoubtedly on today. Should you trust what I have to say? You'll have to make that decision. Let me say that I do have the credentials you unndoubtedly both desire and expect from an individual providing relationship advice. While you can read more about me at another page at this website, know that I have a Ph.D. in clinical social work from the University of Texas at Arlington, I have other degrees in family studies and child development, and I am licensed to practice as a psychotherapist. As a result, I hope you'll feel comfortable sticking around and reading the articles I've posted--and will continue to add to as well as time goes on. Also, discover self-help books I've identified that might prove useful to you--both now and in the future. By the way, let me commend you for taking this step--trying to seek information and learn about what you are facing. After all, it isn't easy to confront what you face. Some women never do it and, as a result, essentially become emotionally destroyed--if not worse. But you're not going to let that happen, are you? The road you undoubtedly will have to walk in the nenar future will prove challenging--count on that. You will need support from others. You will probably want to seek advice from a psychotherapist. You may need ongoing counseling from someone who understands the nature of the relationship you are in and how devastating it can be to you, the victim of a partner's narcissism, addictions, and abuse--assuming that is what you are indeed facing. After reading some of the articles at this site, you should have some idea as to whether this is the case for you or not. But it may well be. As you read what is here for you at Narcissism, Addictions, and Abuse, believe that your life can get better--and that you will get better, too. Whle you might be wrapped in fear today, by taking steps to change your life circumstances, you are giving yourself a chance not only to discover a more fulfilling life, but to uncover aspects of yourself you might never have known existed. In fact, this may play a significant role in making your life richer. So, are you ready to take a fist step on your new life's journey? Besides Writing on Narcissism, Addicitons, and Abuse, Dr. Diane England also Writes on Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. If you Know of Someone Whose Partner is Displaying Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Addictions, and Abuse--Since We often See this Trio, too--Do that Person a Favor and Buy Him or Her "The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Relationship" Today!