Member-only story
Narcissist Replacement: The Phone Upgrade Analogy
The way you replace your old phones with upgraded phones, the narcissist perceives their new supply as an upgrade. This is the narcissistic supply cycle. They may be younger, better looking, or of a higher status. Or perhaps more importantly, they’re more controllable. This is a key element of narcissist manipulation tactics.
The new supply may not be a better partner than you, not in a traditional sense anyway. But they may make a better partner for a narcissist. Narcissists seek narcissistic supply, which is adoration, attention, and control. That’s more important than trivial matters as being a good companion or a long-lasting, caring partner. This is the core of the narcissistic personality disorder in relationships.
Narcissists don’t have emotions like you. So they don’t feel your pain. The narcissist treats old supply like dirt and new supply like gold…and very soon new gets old. This is the narcissist discard phase. The narcissist love bombing and discard cycle is a common pattern.
Leaving you for someone else won’t keep them awake at night. Just like you upgrade your phone, this won’t keep you up at night. To them, it’s a simple replacement, like buying a new toaster. This is how a narcissist views relationships. They often have backup relationships…