Your narcissist parent can turn a quarantine into a nightmare.
You have a narcissist/gaslighter for a parent. Going to work was your reprieve from the narcissist’s antics. Work was like a vacation for you. Or maybe you only had to visit your parent on weekends. Even then, you kept the visits short. But now your parent is living with you during the quarantine.
How do you cope when you are now stuck in the house 24/7 (for the foreseeable future) with a narcissist? You’re reverting to old behavior patterns, and you’re starting to not recognize yourself anymore.
Keep in mind that these may not be long-term solutions to your relationship with a narcissistic parent. Also, this article applies if your narcissistic parent is relatively self-sufficient, and you are not in the role of sole caretaker.
Does the Narcissist Need to Be There?
If you are finding life with the narcissist intolerable, it may be time to see if you or the narcissist can stay at another location. It may mean that either of you need to self-quarantine for two weeks, but the alternative is being stuck in one place with your narcissist parent. If you have children at home and the narcissist is your parent, the narcissist is the one that needs to leave. Nothing says you have to tolerate the narcissist at your home.
