Today’s topic is about the god-awful smear campaign that the narcissist launches against a target. It usually happens after they discard a victim and it always happens if the victim leaves the narcissist or during a divorce or custody battle.
Smear campaigns aren’t something a narcissist only does to a spouse or a partner, however; I have seen this happen with friendships that end, with fellow co-workers, siblings, narcissistic parents also doing this to their own children. Basically, a narcissist can and many times will launch a smear campaign against anyone that they feel threatened by for whatever reason.
Usually, it’s because they can no longer control that person. Therefore, they try and control the way other people see and view that person. So they start by smearing that person’s character and attacking their reputation, and unfortunately, they are usually very nasty and incredibly cruel. The smear campaign is born out of a combination of factors; the biggest one I think is that narcissists need to be right and to have his or her version of the truth become the script that wins. The narcissist’s biggest concern is winning in all circumstances and at all costs.
The smear campaign also serves as a diversion tactic to conceal the narcissist’s true character and to mask the horrible things that they’re guilty of. So the goal is to always keep everyone’s attention on the target’s misdeeds and transgressions, and whether those are real or complete fabrications and off of the narcissist who is the real guilty party. The intention is to undermine, discredit, isolate, demean, vilify, humiliate, all of those things to the target.
So how do you deal with a smear campaign?
Your strategies are obviously going to vary depending on your relationship with a narcissist. Is this someone you have no choice than to communicate with at some level? For example, is this someone you share a child with, or is it a parent, an ex-lover, or a boss? Obviously, if this is a person that you do not have to have any contact with, then the best policy is to ignore it as painful and unfair as it may be. It’s never worth your time and energy to try and defend yourself or reason with someone like this if you don’t have to.
For those situations that you cannot go no contact with the person, here are my top five strategies for dealing with a smear campaign.
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