Believe it or not, but ignoring a narcissist is something that can in fact be done. While you may be someone who strives to bring a positive, empathetic attitude, having a narcissist in your life can certainly make it difficult to maintain that mindset. Whether you find yourself dealing with a narcissist at work, dealing with a narcissist at home, or dealing with one in any other facet of your life, these are people who can take a toll on your psyche. Thankfully, as powerless as you might feel, there are in fact options for ignoring a narcissist.
How To Ignore A Narcissist
When it comes to dealing with a narcissist in your work environment, home environment, or in some other aspect of your daily life, remember this: You are not powerless. You do not have to continue to feel like a victim. You can deal with a narcissist in a proactive fashion. These are some of the things that you are going to want to keep in mind:
1. Understand that on a certain level, randomly criticizing or ignoring a narcissist will not do much good in the long-term. While ignoring a narcissist is most certainly possible, it is something that has to be consistent. You can’t simply ignore this individual one day, and then return to old responses and behaviors the next day. If you are truly going to eliminate this negative influence from the ability to influence your life, you are going to have to engage in consistency.
2. You must also remember that a narcissist typically does not have legitimate feelings of superiority and invincibility to match how they might display themselves to a person in the real world. This is something that should be kept in mind at all times.
3. Understand that consistently rejecting an individual can be extremely damaging to a narcissist. While it is true that rejection can be damaging to anyone, ignoring a narcissist takes this thought to a higher degree. In other words, a narcissist is generally more damaged by being ignored than a normal person would be.
4. If this is a person that you care about, you may want to help them. It is possible to treat narcissism, although it is also very difficult. You may want to consider bringing together family and friends who feel the same way about this person, and staging an intervention. This can be a good way to deal with the person in question with a strong support system.