Rebecca Zung, distinguished as the Top 1% of attorneys all across the United States, is an expert at providing legal assistance to the people across the globe trapped in the marriage with a narcissist. Recognized by U.S. News & World Report as a “Best Lawyer in America,” Zung is acknowledged by her peers and the judiciary as AV (c), the preeminent rated attorney in family law, which is the highest possible rating for an attorney by Martindale Hubbell.

Being the author of the bestselling books, Negotiate Like You M.A.T.T.E.R.: The SureFire Method to Step Up and Win (foreword by Robert Shapiro) and Breaking Free: A Step-by-Step Divorce Guide for Achieving Emotional, Physical, and Spiritual Freedom, we today conversed with the incredible attorney to know about the prominent signs which make it clear that you are married to a narcissist.

While been featured in or on Extra, Forbes, Huffington Post, Newsweek, Time, Dr. Drew, NPR Talk Radio, Good Day New York, and CBS Los Angeles, Zung remains to be the wellspring of knowledge on divorce matters, and mastering the art of negotiating with the narcissist.

1.    Unrealistic Expectations

Zung reveals that a narcissistic partner would demand that their spouse caters to their silliest of demands at all times. “They expect their partner to anticipate what, how, and when the narcissist requires an admiration and adoration to feed their narcissistic ego. This kind of marriage is truly a one-way road where the spouse only gives while the narcissist takes, with no returns involved. The worst part is that the narcissist’s lust for gratification is never satisfied as to the more the spouse gives, the more that is expected,” she says.

2.    Blames Games & Guilt-Trips Becomes Normal

The major sign to spot for a narcissist person is that projects their undesirable traits onto the spouse. They love to play the blame games, claiming that the spouse is needy, never pleased, ungracious, never apologizes, egocentric, and has irrational expectations. “Narcissist really enjoys disparaging their spouse by highlighting their flaws in front of others, taking a minor infraction and turning it into a major event, and highlighting intelligence gaps, so the narcissist looks superior. Yet friends and family have not verbalized any such complaints about the spouse and usually are distant from the narcissist,” says Zung.

3.    Narcissist Spouse Becomes Jealous

A narcissist can bear nothing that holds the attention of their spouse over them. This even includes their own kids, pets, friends, family, and occupation. “They will frequently demand attention at the same time the spouse is on the phone, occupied on a project, speaking to someone else, or engaging in an activity that they really enjoy. Their jealousy triggers intense rage and sometimes violence for which the spouse is subsequently blamed,” says Rebecca Zung.

4.    The Vicious Cycle of Abuse, Threats, and Punishments

The narcissist often provokes the spouse to leave by being cruel and abusive during an argument. This achieves two elements: it confirms that the spouse will, in fact, one day abandon the narcissist, and it portrays the narcissist as the victim. Either way, the narcissist has gained more ammunition to use against their spouse. In essence, the narcissist will never take any accountability for the exacerbation.

The narcissist also penalizes the spouse with abuse or abandonment. The abuse can be physical, emotional (guilt-tripping), financial, sexual (forced relationship), spiritual, verbal (threatening), or mental. Often, narcissist denies love, attention, support, and communication. There is nothing unconditional about their love; it is very performance-driven. Trying to address their abuse and confronting their behavior is like pouring gasoline onto a fire,” says Zung.

The narcissist has a second nature to give threats of abandonment, exposure, or rejection if their spouse does not meet their standards and expectations. There is a possibility that the spouse has one or more of these insecurities, which is why the narcissist targeted them for marriage in the first place. These fears tend to keep a person in the relationship longer. Most of this type of behavior is triggered when the narcissist believes that they are entitled to something that they don’t have. It’s a form of an adult temper tantrum,” explains Rebecca Zung.

5.    Phony Remorse

The narcissist is an expert at using repentance as a manipulation tool. Genuine remorse is time-consuming, requiring enough time for trust to be regained. “The issue arises as the narcissist desires an instant restoration to the same level of trust that they had broken. While any mention of the previous behavior will incite the narcissist, and they will claim the spouse is ruthless. This, of course, justifies them doing the action again,” says Zung.

Rebecca Zung Contributes to Creating Awareness About Narcissist Partner

Realizing how truly hard it is for the spouse to get rid of such toxic marriage, Zung is continuing to serve through her incredible on-demand programs such as S.LA.Y. Your Negotiation With a Narcissist, and the Divorce Delete-Alt-Control Master classes. She is also the host of the popular show Negotiate Your Best Life™, which is available on YouTube. “I desire to empower the spouse to stand up against the tortures of their narcissistic partner, and therefore, with my endeavors, try my utmost to create maximum awareness about spotting the narcissistic signs among your partners,” says Zung.

Additionally, Zung’s YouTube Channel, where she provides spot-on tips and tricks to deal with the narcissist, skyrocketed the number of subscribers from 100 to nearly 60,000 in just the span of 5 months. This explains how intense the issue of dealing with the narcissistic partner is, which she describes as another pandemic. “There is a pandemic of narcissism right now. 6% of the population is either a narcissist or has narcissistic tendencies. Another 3.3% of the population is sociopathic or simply lacks a conscience. If each one of those people abuses just five people in their lifetimes, more than 3 billion people become a victim. With my actual strategies to turn the tables and shift the dynamic, I wish to forestall the number by letting people know what it takes to stop becoming the prey of the narcissist’s ego,” says Zung.