Narcissistic Husband Traits and How to Deal with Him

When you met him, you couldn’t believe how lucky you were. He was charming, kind, and everything you ever hoped and dreamed of.

You wondered what you did right in the world to bring this fairy tale to life. But suddenly, he transformed into a narcissistic husband. Gradually, he became critical and controlling and seemed indifferent to your feelings and thoughts. The man you initially met and admired seemed to vanish before your eyes.

How did this happen? What went wrong? How could he change so drastically? In reality, he hasn't changed, he has always been this way deep down. The problem is that he initially presented himself in the best light for you, and you believed him. You're not alone, so don't worry. Many women have experienced this, and it's simple to fall for it. You get to know his truth over time, and you may even be married to him by then.

If this sounds like your husband, he might be displaying some signs of narcissism or even be a full-blown narcissist. It's possible that you were unsure about your husband's narcissism. Let's now examine some of the traits you ought to be aware of:

Narcissistic Husband Traits

The following traits confirm signs that your husband may be a narcissist:

1. He Thinks He's Better Than Others

He believes he's superior to everyone else. He'll probably go around telling everyone about his great achievements, wanting to convince them that he's better than anyone else, especially you.

2. He Doesn't Listen to Your Opinion

Your narcissistic husband won't listen to your opinion when it comes to big decisions like buying a house or small ones like organizing a vacation. Though he may act otherwise, he will ultimately follow his own mind, regardless of your opinion.

3. He Constantly Needs Validation

He thinks he knows everything. You could tell him that 2 + 2 = 4, but he would argue with you and say, “No, 2 + 2 = 5.” While you wonder how he can believe he's always right, he doesn't care about the truth. He just wants to win and be right all the time.

4. He Gaslights You

Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation. When your husband uses it against you, it casts you into doubt. So, you start to question your memory or sanity. He turns reality around on you and makes you question yourself (while, in fact, he is the one you should be questioning).

5. He Needs Appreciation

Your narcissistic husband constantly wants you to compliment him on how wonderful he is. As previously stated, he wanders around attempting to make himself appear better than others because, when he does so, he hopes to win the respect that accompanies this sense of superiority.

6. He Lacks Empathy

Your narcissistic husband is incapable of understanding your perspective in any situation. He has no concern for your well-being. He is only interested in himself and his own opinions so that he may be unaware of your feelings of hopelessness, pessimism, or rage. If he is, he will dismiss them to make you feel that they are unimportant.

7. He Blames You

The narcissistic husband never accepts accountability for anything that occurs and consistently blames you (or others). He claims that you are to blame for all mistakes. He is error-free! Additionally, he will argue that his actions were not wrong and try to blame you if you try to discuss him.

8. He Acts as a Victim

Your narcissistic husband is typically the "victim" of others' actions because he believes himself to be infallible. If his work project fails, he will blame his boss, a coworker, or the customers. He adopts a victim mentality because he is unable to examine his actions and does not recognize that he is accountable for them.

9. He Feels No Guilt

He might say or do extremely hurtful things, and you might find out that he is texting another woman, but he won't feel guilty about it, won't consider it a big problem, and will just tell you to move on.

10. He Lies

Everything he says is a lie, and while you might not be able to recognize his lies, you almost certainly have a gut feeling that most of the time, what he says is untrue.

11. He is Abusive and Mean

He is mean to you, he may criticize you and call you bad names like fat, ugly, or stupid, and he may tell you that you are lucky to have him in your life because no one else would ever want you, and he may physically abuse you.

12. He Enjoys Your Pain

Because he lacks empathy, he takes pleasure in seeing you suffer, whether it be physically or emotionally. This gives him a sense of power and control, and he doesn't feel bad about hurting you.

Dealing with a Narcissistic Husband

Having identified the telltale signs of a narcissistic husband, here are some proactive steps you can take. Let's examine a few of them:

1. Setting Boundaries

If given the chance, narcissists enjoy taking advantage of others and can be bullies to the point where they view bullying as an easy target. They don't want anyone to oppose them or set boundaries that they can't cross, but if you do that and you stand by your beliefs—which you should—they won't have an option.

2. Maintaining the Right Mindset

Keep your thoughts from being manipulated by your narcissistic husband. Retain your right mindset and resist his attempts to brainwash you into believing falsehoods. Don't let him cause you to doubt yourself because you are aware of the truth.

3. Not Taking It Personally

Though we are aware that a narcissistic husband's words and deeds can cause pain, try not to take it personally. Do not let yourself be misled into believing that you are the bad person in the relationship—you are not! Everything he says and does is actually about him and his feelings of insecurity, not about you!

4. Leaving

You cannot change your narcissistic husband, as much as we would like to say otherwise. Indeed, you cannot change someone who does not want to change for themselves. If they do not have the will to change, they never will. You have two choices if you have tried everything to make your relationship work and you are still unhappy: either stay and put up with his persistent narcissism, or leave and find someone else who is normal and loving.

In Conclusion

Marrying a narcissist is not an easy matter. You are not alone in dealing with this issue, as there are many narcissists in the world. You deserve love, so love yourself, put yourself first, and try to get some support.