Triangulation and the OW

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#1 Sep 14 - 3PM
Scoop
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Triangulation and the OW

There is always another body in the narc relationship , for me it was another man , his best friend , an oga of a man who use to come over and sit in the living room eating my food . A narc loves triangulation because its a great way to avoid intimacy .. Heres Dr Linda on The ow and Triangulation

"There is almost always the Other Woman (Other Man) or Other Women (Other Men) in the romantic and sexual lives of narcissists. A narcissist can be loyal to no one. Since he/she is incapable of true intimacy, being devoted to one spouse ot partner is absurd to this type of personality. Narcissists are restless and bored, full of themselves, supremely self entitled and absolutely sure that they can get any one they want at any time. Many high level narcissists are very successful at this game. They pick and choose their desired one of the moment as easily as someone selecting fine chocolates from a confectionery.

A narcissist knows when the person chosen will tilt toward him and have the affair. They are masters of persuasion through word and gift that this is the time that they must be together. Empty promises flow from their lips like the gifted notes of fine opera singers, their tones and trills following with exquisite precision, the mood, mental and psychological state of its audience. Women or men who are disillusioned in their marriage or who are psychologically wounded and in shock after a divorce are particularly vulnerable to the endless wiles of the magnetic narcissist. Once they are hooked, they fuse with the narcissist and cannot let go of him regardless of his egregious, inappropriate and abusive behaviors toward them. They throw the other woman out, only to reel them back in. This back and forth choreography serves as a psychological reinforcement, tightening the bond with the narcissist.

When the narcissist has had his fill and sends the partner out of the Garden of His Eden, the hellish part of the cycle begins. The Other Woman or Man despite the fact that the narcissist has told them in every way that it is over, begs, bargains, cajoles the narcissist to take her/him back one more time. The injured party cannot let go. Her delusion is set in stone. She knows that this man still loves her despite the fact that he will never leave his wife or mistress for her. The same is true for the other man. Hope springs eternal as they say in the heart of a former lover of the narcissist. Some former lovers never let go and proceed to lead lives of delusional fantasy, believing that at any moment, the phone will ring, the text message will appear, the door bell will sound and he or she will be standing there, awaiting the long expected reunion. These stories have unhappy endings. The narcissist always wins in the liaison game since he is incapable of intimacy or love. Learning how to specifically identify the narcissistic personality and protect yourself from these corrosive individuals will serve you well in your private life.

Big love Scoop x

Sep 15 - 11AM
prettypeeved
prettypeeved's picture

I think triangulation is what

I think triangulation is what The Ice Queen of Narcnia tried with me - slight problem was that I left him to get on with it when he went off with the OM. I reckon he wanted me to pursue him, but instead I started hearing all the nasty little rumours and put 2 and 2 together and eventually lost all contact with him. I wish he'd never come back.
Sep 15 - 11AM
How could I
How could I's picture

Why won't he admit

Why won't he admit that he has OW. He has always insisted that their relationship is just work related. (She is his secretary) IF they love this triangulation, why won't he admit it. He has never spoken about his love for any other woman. Has told me that it was just sex. Is he possibly just a womanizer and not a Narc?
Sep 15 - 11AM (Reply to #15)
Used
Used's picture

how could i

most womanizers are narcs...he will never admit this to you,b/c he cant take the chance you may decided not to have anymore to do with him...myexnh and exn were in r/s all they time i was friends with them...it always puzzled me why they didnt tell me...i wasent romanticly involved with exnh anymore we were friends and exn and i were only friends...when i found out about exn having a r/s i dropped him....when i found out about myenh i had already dropped him....so they knew something about my character that i didnt even know.....how ironic is that...he will not admit it..are you still in a r/s with him[other than him beign your boss]xx
Sep 15 - 12PM (Reply to #16)
How could I
How could I's picture

Working relationship, however

Working relationship, however he has asked me when I was going to let him kiss me again. Told me that he wants things to go back to the way they used to be. (sad thing is, even though I now know who he is, I too wish we could go back to the way I THOUGHT things used to be - not what they used to be!.....does that make sense?) xx back at you Used. And thanks for responding. Such a nice feeling to know that someone cares about what you are going through!! Still can't believe I'm in this mess!
Sep 15 - 12PM (Reply to #17)
Used
Used's picture

how could i

working r/s...thats great, but he wants to go back to the other r/s...so there is no way hun, he is going totell you the truth...no way what a SLUG....nothing is the same when you go back ..not just them...i have been back to my old childhood homes, my old school, and old friends...its never the same...keep your chin up xxxx
Sep 15 - 11AM
Susan32
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Used it against him

When I realized the ex-Psych prof was triangulating me against his live-in girlfriend, I used it as a pretext to totally play with his feelings, and have that delicious sense of power. I TAUNTED him about it, saying how he'd be turned on at the sight of his girlfriend and I at the mud wrestling pit... then LAUGHING at him. I toyed with his feelings. Seeing how he was using his girlfriend and I for me was sufficient REASON and JUSTIFICATION for me to use my power and control. THe ex-P was suddenly acquiring purposeful narcissistic injuries, and I was ENJOYING it the whole time. I treated him cruelly on purpose, and to his dismay, I was relishing his pain. He'd look dismayed when I praised his girlfriend (sorry, I actually LIKED her, he chose a classy lady, a curator). He threw a hissy fit when I congratulated him on being engaged... and I bragged about how I had driven him CRAZY with that one. He might as well as put on a "Kick me" sign on his back. He deserved it. I triangulated him against his girlfriend (now wife)--I treated her with respect&praise... and he got the ridicule, the mind games.
Sep 15 - 9AM
Totally Stunned
Totally Stunned's picture

And big love back to you

And big love back to you Scoop - this post absolutely describes my relationship with the narc. He loved triangulation, loved the drama he "created" between the 3 of us. I was the OW, and I know the lies he told me - I can now only imagine the lies he told his wife. Yikes! My Narc is still married, claims to love his wife - but recycled many OW through the past years, I was just one OW, but now realize that when he is bored with me, he goes on to the other OWs he has in his arsenal. Here is the saddest reality of all that you wrote. Bear with me - you said: "Hope springs eternal as they say in the heart of a former lover of the narcissist. Some former lovers never let go and proceed to lead lives of delusional fantasy, believing that at any moment, the phone will ring, the text message will appear, the door bell will sound and he or she will be standing there, awaiting the long expected reunion" So true and so sad. I wrote on another post that going NC is easy for me. I have no desire to contact him. He was an ASS to me. But why then do I still STILL have those romantic feelings inside, thinking that one day he will call me for that long expected reunion. I know he was an ASS, but I still want him to call me? Brainwashing at its best.
Sep 14 - 5PM
Sunafterrain
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Scoop

this has me curious. Why do they hang onto the wife while cycling through so many OW's? It isn't always the case, because many different scenarios could happen that could lead the marriage to divorce or to where the disordered one runs off with the OW. I'm curious as to why they hang onto their marriages and cycle OW's?
Sep 15 - 10AM (Reply to #8)
WakingUP (not verified)
Anonymous's picture

My perception is that they're

My perception is that they're cycling through OW because of the thrill of the hunt. Once they've established her as a source of supply, and she's hooked. The thrill of the game is over. Then he'll start looking for a new one. That thrill is an addiction to them. They hang on the their marriages because their spouse has become so dependent, that she will never leave no matter how much he abuses her. He dishes out all his rage and projection onto his spouse, and she will take it because she's so worn down and had her self-esteem eroded so completely. That makes him feel powerful.
Sep 15 - 12PM (Reply to #10)
freaked
freaked's picture

@wakingup, i am the

@wakingup, i am the victim-wife of a narc, and trust me...i am not still here ..because i have any feelings left for him. I am here because I am past middleage, and have health issues, and zero money/income/capacity to go work.. so... i am here..still. any moment he shows me the door, i have to go..and hope that he pays me off with a decent sum so i could survive on my own...medical bills, houserent, food...et all. I often have wished i had been OW instead of wife...at OW get some period of Idealisation...a wife gets nothing.
Sep 15 - 1PM (Reply to #11)
WakingUP (not verified)
Anonymous's picture

@ Freaked-

In my situation my narc is a friend of mine. I observe his marital situation from the sidelines. I feel for you that you are a victim-wife, just like I feel for my narc's wife. I don't think that she even knows what NPD is. He has been telling her for almost a year that he wants a divorce, but he says he won't leave his kids, and the truth is, he doesn't have the money to be able to afford child support or an attorney. As unhappy as they both are, I know that she won't leave him, I know she still has feelings for him even though she is probably just the shell of a woman she may have been at one time as a result of his abuse. She is dependent on him - her self-esteem is so low that getting a job and supporting herself must seem ridiculously impossible to her. I have my doubts that he will actually leave her. The whole thing makes me very sad.
Sep 15 - 11AM (Reply to #9)
Susan32
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Or she is also a Narc

In a twisted way, another Narc is a source of endless NS... even more so than a normal, codependent person. Sam Vaknin has talked about Narcs being partners in crime. They are fellow bullies, collaborators. There was speculation that the ex-Psych prof's girlfriend (now wife of a decade) was a Narc herself. That she was as self-absorbed as him, applauded his actions, that she knew about how he was mistreating me (because I didn't know about her till I met her)... and was down with it.
Sep 14 - 5PM
mystwoman
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This so true, Scoop. Xnh

This so true, Scoop. Xnh LOVED triangulation. If he were an artist, triangulation would have been one of his mediums. Xnh had several people that he loved to triangulate. The main pair was myself and his first ex-wife. I have no doubt that he was stringing her along with illusions of a "blissful" life of true love with him, just like he did me. Xnh regularly stirred up drama that pitted us against each other. He just loved causing big, old shit storms of chaos orbiting around himself. Then xnh would sit in the eye of the storm enjoying the show while the rest of us took a beating in the wind. It was all his little game. What a turd! I've always been taught that it is a rare treasure to have a true love even once in your lifetime. Personally, I suspect that xnh had it, not just once, but twice. I know that I deeply loved xnh, and I think his first ex-wife did as well. He didn't deserve it either time. The other two people xnh absolutely LOVED to triangulate me against were his oldest hideous P daughter, and his mommy. Both were a constant source of stress and drama, and both were instrumental in my final decision to end things with xnh forever. Enough is enough. Now, I see my divorce from xnh as "poetic justice". They're all still stuck dealing with him, and *I* am not. If xnh was the "prize" in the contest, then he was definitely a "booby prize". Xnh is a true "pink elephant". *I* ended up with the better deal. I'm so much happier now without him. :)

______________________________________________________
God sometimes removes a person from your life for your protection. Don't run after them.

Sep 15 - 4AM (Reply to #6)
KeshaN
KeshaN's picture

My N did this with me and his

My N did this with me and his baby's mother. He acted as if he had a hard time picking between us two and we were married. I was totally oblivious to this when it was going on. He was married to me and told me he wanted to be with me our entire lives. He made me hate his baby ma by telling me things she said and he made her hate me by doing the same. He told me not to worry about her and that she just wants him and he told her he was trying to divorce me for her but i wouldn't sign the papers. Which was a lie. In the end of it all he supposedly chose me. But acted as if i should have been treating him like a god because he did. He did it again with his ex girlfriend recently. He cheated on me and then made it seem like he had found love and that he wanted to be with her. I replied by saying "OK she can have you...because i am not happy with you either...gl" A couple weeks later he was trying to get back with me stating that he just wanted me to fight for him and that he wants a girl who will fight to get him back...I however saw this differently. Why would I fight for someone who is my husband and whom I should have anyway? why would i fight for a man who cheated on me, abused me, lied on me, humiliated me? I saw his leaving as a chance to excape since I had a hard time letting go on my own. In the end I found out it was a lie. I talked to his ex and she told me she doesn't even want him and that she hasn't wanted him in years. They did have sex but it shouldn't have happened and that they are just friends. But she told me that he always told he he wish he would have married her. Now after all of this he acts as if he has a new girlfriend that he is so in love with...again and he makes a point to try and tell me that she is better then me... I fine this so funny and lame to be honest. its so full of shit. How many women have he told that he loved and really wanted to be with? He just told me this two weeks ago, also his ex, and now he is telling some new chick this...how sincere
Sep 14 - 4PM
Sunafterrain
Sunafterrain's picture

Scoop

This is perfect timing for me. Such a great reminder too. I was the OW. Was with him when he was married, he divorced, was with me during the targeting phase of others for money and then like lightning he married again. But now he's hoovering. Why is that? Well, it's just not as much fun to be committed to one woman without throwing another in for good measure to destroy as well and to uplift his deflated ego. He hates being nice to one woman. Someone put another post up today about why he hoovers and that it's not about us. Soooo true. This hoover is not about me at all, it's about control and power. He would loooooooooove to add some drama to the new marriage and to his new wife. Wouldn't that be fun? When he hoovers, essentially, I know he's bored. I also cut off every single avenue of contact. I'm completely out of reach. disordered one's don't like it when you move on sometimes and are happier without them, particularly if you were the one to end the relationship. Well tough! NC and proud today and not playing the game!
Sep 14 - 3PM
uk lady
uk lady's picture

All so true

She based her findings on me and I have the triangle to prove it. Thanks for posting Scoop, always good when something in writing comes to life on the page to stop the confusion. Dee x
Sep 14 - 3PM
dabussard
dabussard's picture

Oh so true

I just don't get what they get out of it... All the time, that they spend pushing and pulling many different ows at the same time... I know, I know, power and control....But, why.... It is so hard fighting to stay away from a narc... It's all I can do to avoid running into him... The last three months have taken all the strength I can muster.... Thanks for posting!!! Damn Jacknut!!!
Sep 14 - 3PM
Used
Used's picture

scoop

this is very powerful...thankyou..