Understanding Word Salad
What is word salad?
Why do narcissists use it?
What does it sound like?
How do you deal with it?
This provides you with a comprehensive example of word salad and then detailed explanations about its use and how you may tackle it.
92 thoughts on “Understanding Word Salad”
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Wow! Just wow!
This is exactly how the argument went with my oldest son the day I decided to just rip off the mask to figure out if he was a narcissist.
Unfortunately it ended with me hanging up on him after I lost my temper, I wasn’t prepared mentally for him to react in the way I dreaded he would I guess.
Not about porn of course, lol.
It was about me politely suggesting perhaps he was too judgmental to become a therapist and maybe possibly work on that before pursuing a career in that field.
I had suspected he was a narcissist for awhile and had slowly begun peeling off the mask after he subjected me to several devaluation episodes. We were estranged when he was a baby and met again when he was 18, he recently divorced and had moved in with me for two years with his two young daughters and we became very close, or so I thought anyways..
This ‘test’ was the one that sent him into a cold fury and proved to me that I was correct in my evaluation. I have been under silent treatment for 3 weeks now, after 4 months of 12 hours a day of text messaging since he bought his own house in April.
I am glad I pressed myself to rip it off instead of pussyfooting around anymore. Too many years I have had of narcissistic abuse by too many people. I am like a magnet or something. Now I know I can’t help them or fix anything, and I know what to look for and make them reveal themselves,thank you again HG!
Bloody hell. ‘Hurt’ by nine inch nails is another of my favourites. So obviously ‘narc’ now I think about it.
These songs are my favourites because they are deep. They intrigued me (no more now though)
That’s what has always attracted me about men too. I liked them to be deep and intriguing.
Does that day anything about me HG?
Or does it say anything about me as a target?
Thank you.
I had a lot of salad, cocktail and macedonia ( italian for fruit salad 🙂) all mixed up and thrown at each other today.. .. but phewwwww… at the end of the day i was rewarded with a short “romance in the train station …” 😊
plus waving bye bye amor…
until the next round..
You ate a country? Alexander would not be pleased.
HG
that was the easy part yesterday… i haven’ t mention the second course before the dessert…
😂
Sorry for totally going off thread here but I’ve just realised something….I went to change my phone ring tone today and decided on The Who’s Behind blue eyes as it’s one of my favourite songs. And then I realised the lyrics!!! Total Narc song or what? I always loved the mystery to this song but now the mystery has gone. I really liked Limp Bizkits version too and now I’m remembering their video to it. Wow!
I’ve also got Radioheads Creep in my ringtones. I’m seeing a pattern….
Any other songs that people have come to realise are ‘narc songs’?
Thx for this article. I found it quite entertaining and humorous lol! She should have just knocked her head against the wall!
Jenna
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
HG
Great read!
Tell me, does your ass ever get jealous of the shit that comes out of your mouth? Lol.
LOL
Hello NA! I think your post is very funny! I read it twice.
Like HG said, when this happens don’t engage. They can’t admit they are wrong even when they are and if they are right and you agree then they change their mind to the opposing view.
During these situatoons I would say to my ex narc. “you are so cute when you talk so passionately about something” He hated that. 😊
situations.
Sorry, I’m compelled to fix typos. When I make a typo an angel loses their wings…
Wading through treacle, in a nutshell. Deflection at it’s best. My favourite starter for a 3 hour circular slanging match was me asking who (insert female name) is?! Oh how I miss the banter… Not
HG,
Any thoughts on your kind and MDMA treatment and/or Psychedelics of various sorts?
I would love to read your perspective on this, as it may be the future of Therapeutic treatments.
Hello Lex, this has been covered in previous comments. I have taken ecstasy before and as I explained it made me want to dance and fuck. I have taken magic mushrooms which was entertaining but beyond that I am not going start licking the back of tree frogs or imbibing shamanic concoctions that fuck with your mind. Mine is too good to risk in that regard.
That made me laugh out loud.
Hannibal Lector has once again left the building.
😆
The future of therapeutic treatments … ;D
Hahaha.
So, no Ayahuasca ceremony then, HG? I’m disappointed.
Then face your fears without its help. 🙂
As I mentioned before Ava101, no shamanic frog beverage is going to mess with my finely tuned mind.
You had said that about hypnosis, but inquired about Ayahuasca. Which is a plant. You had said that you need something full-on, not some soft mindfulness meditation.
If I may say so.
🙂
This happened quite often. My ex would accuse me of going off topic, but then he would bring up the time when I told him to eat the last slice of pizza and he gained weight because I made him eat it, and it was all my fault! The infamous Pizza Slice was cited so many times, that I started to say, “Why do all our arguments end up being about the “Pizza Slice” and not what they originally started out with?”
Two different worlds, two different languages, two different motives.
Our worlds collided and this =fuel for them and insanity for us.
my narcs is a master of deflecting my
” too good points” and turns it into aggressive non-sensicale arguments.. or start deflecting with love- bombing instead..
Do i ever win an argument ? No in the way i expect.. because he deflects it in his way.. and accordingly he then apologizes.. but all in his manipulative way..
proof you should never argue with some people…
Very much the case Ali.
You all have to hear this read on YouTube. It is really dizzying!
This is exactly what it was like to go round and round with the last ex. And, it would get turned on me for starting it all and making trouble.
Now, I like a good debate, so I would go blow for blow for a while with the ex. However, as the relationship continued, add in other types of gaslighting (which this is a form of as well), anxiety, unpredictability and fatigue from all the drama, it is even more disorienting. Spin, spin, spin. Toward the end, when I knew what he was and was reading HG(a year ago to the month), I learned to end the conversation and sometimes walk out and go home. Then I would have a glass of wine and go to bed with the phone off. Starve the beast.
Did you have the same debates over and over?
With two honest people debates don’t usually last long, either one side sees some facts that make them admit defeat or it gets tiresome.
Correct Brian – also see the article Why Is There No Resolution. The lack of alignment in desired outcomes is a key factor.
It depends on what you mean Brian. Are you asking about debates about problems in the relationship or just fun debates about philosophy, life, etc.? Because arguments were never resolved, ever, with the ex, I would be accused of bringing up the same topic over and over. It was in reality that it was never resolved. (For instance, he frequently abused my time boundary with cancelations or being late) Never was resolved. Should have been a simple discussion, like you said above.
Now, the other side of it is that I enjoy debates for my personal growth, with a give and take aspect. I also like to win and am competitive too (a narcissist trait of mine) though I am not nasty about it. So, an intellectual debate with a great partner can last for hours…or minutes. (The recent ex was fantastic on this too, this was one of our “things”, lots of banter and fun debate). As long as we are both enjoying it and engaged. And, it can be revisited if someone has new data, or new perspective. I have both conceded and refused to concede in the past.However, with the golden period coming to a halt, so did those fun debates. It all became word salad and gas lighting and circular BS.
Oy…
Hi Indy, hope you are well!
You were ‘lucky’ (I use the term loosely) to be able to debate.
I LOVE debate. It’s a passion of mine. Intelligent debate is fantastic. However, debate was never debate in my world. Debate was me disagreeing with him and being arguementative. Any difference of opinion was seen as a slight on my part. Me being deliberately awkward or stubborn.
“I like the blue shirt”
“Oh I prefer the red”
“There you go again. Why do you turn everything into an argument!”
I soon learned to not have a differing opinion.
Yeah, it was part our “thing”, what drew me to him. He was mainly cerebral type though he had some somatic traits. The fun debates only occurred during the golden period. He knew I liked it so I’m guessing it was part of the seduction. About 10-12 months. Of course later, down the road in devaluation it was different. He was in the “stranger mode” for a really long time tho. Like 4-5 months. Gaslighting and mind fucks followed. Devaluation lasted about 7 months until I left him.
Brian
i go on at him intelligently with a hint of aggression for hours at a time, basically i do enjoy trying to get him into a crisis so he would finally ” admit” what i am driving at..
but withouth success..
although he admits only what he knows to pacify me ..
very clever ..
but i love arguments- debates..
do not tire me..
JG
absolutely:
“The lack of alignment in desired outcomes is a key factor.”
I can now see it so clearly.
i’ ve just said this morning that i enjoy a good debate/argument..
but it is because ultimately i am always hoping for a trutful outcome to possibly come out.
After another argument today, i am now exausted and totally sick of it.
I need help to finally escape.
i see no more good outcome now..
and it is heart wrenching..
i am prolonging the torture inflicted on me.
S.O.S
HG
absolutely:
“The lack of alignment in desired outcomes is a key factor.”
I can now see it so clearly.
i’ ve just said this morning that i enjoy a good debate/argument..
but it is because ultimately i am always hoping for a trutful outcome to possibly come out.
After another argument today, i am now exausted and totally sick of it.
I need help to finally escape.
i see no more good outcome now..
and it is heart wrenching..
i am prolonging the torture inflicted on me.
S.O.S
Indeed Angelic.
When you argue with them you get traumatized but they feel like a million dollars. Just remember that next time you feel like bringing up one of their transgressions.
Interesting you mentioned going to sleep Indy. I experienced sleepiness after these circular arguments with my last narc. I could not continue the arguments for long. It is my nature to concede and make peace. But he loved to take me round and round, and sure enough I became very sleepy. Lol I think I developed narcolepsy at the time. My therapist says it was my body’s survival mechanism. Now that I have trouble sleeping, I wonder if I should call up the ex for a nice bedtime argument. 😉
I bet you were exhausted! Yes, stress response and survival response can totally exhaust. I became more anxious and hypervigilant where I could not sleep and I was exhausted during the day though sleep eluded me…I had to take Tylenol PM, briefly I took Benadryl, and briefly anxiety meds (though they did not work). I am now off them and sleep like a babe 🙂 No calling that ex…LOL Nice to hear from you Love, I was thinking about you the other day, thinking I saw less of you. (HUgs)
Hoogs to you Indy! I take Salvia and Amber to calm me. Omg! Best.thing.ever. And of course I have an aromatherapy diffuser in my house with a boatload of essential oils 😁
Absolutely, me too. As soon as he started I could feel my eyes closing! Great insomnia cure lol
That’s hilarious DJ. It is an empath lullaby.
You could possibly have adrenal issues. Which can cause either sleeping too much or not being able to sleep. I remember after my break up all I wanted to do was sleep. I forget how but while doing research on trauma (PTSD) I came across info on adrenal exhaustion. It makes total sense there would be a connection.
Sleep, water with salt, protein and lots of veggies and no coffee seem to be working well for me. Staying away from coffee though has been difficult lol.
Thanks for the info Aura. I’m also on a healthy diet with no caffeine or alcohol. My guilty pleasure now is hot dark chocolate. Mmmmm. And it’s supposed to be good for you.
Awesome! That hot chocolate sounds yummy. Unfortunately it effects me close to what coffee does.
I’m looking into alternatives…like mushroom ‘coffee.’ I don’t we’ll see. It will still some kind of creamer though.
Lmao. Narcolepsy.
I’m glad to hear that the trauma induced narcolepsy is a thing among we empaths, I feel like I belong (in a warm, fuzzy way, of course). What’s most telling is that we all seem to be taking similar steps to aid our return to a normal sleep pattern, too. We’re obviously on the right track 🙂
Absolutely. If it has their name in it “narc-o-lepsy”, then it must be their fault 😉
“No you don’t know, you don’t know me at all, that’s part of the problem, if you took some time to know me, you would understand.”
I’ve heard this exact phrase many times.
Me too with slightly different words mixed in. And then when we were not arguing I would hear “You do not know me well enough to love me”. Does the fact that they know we love them infuriate them or something?
I’m in two minds about that.
On the one hand it could be because they know we fell in love with a set of behaviours that only come out when they are needed.
So, he was telling the truth then. You were not in love with the real him.
On the other hand, I think they see all that lovey-dovey stuff in a relationship to be a chore.
Something that has to be done to get 2 of their goals met,
1. Staying in a relationship- maintenance.
2. Opening you up emotionally, so that when they do something nasty it hurts even more.
I’ve experienced that if you do withdraw emotionally and dont touch them, they don’t mind. :0
Makes sense I suppose. Just got flashbacks of other quotes he’s said that echo similar.
“I do not deserve you Gabrielle”
I heard that so many times. Also heard how he does not deserve his wife either. I recall challenging that statement one day. I asked him why he was saying that. I said “Is that supposed to be a compliment that I am too good to you? Or a knock on yourself like you are not worthy of such?”
His reply. “Both”
His father had to have a minor surgery one time. And another time one of his coworkers passed out while at work and they needed to call 911. When I asked him follow up questions how his dad and coworker were after the incidences, he did not seem to understand why. He would say stuff like “It touches me that you are so much. You do not even know these people.” Like the fact that I cared was some foreign concept or something. I just said “Well it’s your family and colleagues. You shared their situation with me so they must be important to you. And you are important to me.” He still seemed to struggle with the way I viewed that. So rather than discuss it he just went back to praising how selfless I was and how amazing and caring I was and blah blah blah. And he was “touched” that I loved him enough to worry about these people.
I still wonder if this was all fake and just way for him to manipulate me or if he actually just could not understand the concept of my thinking. Or maybe it was both (two minds as you’ve said).
Brian
with my narcs it’s the opposite, often when i am exposing him he says:
“You know me ***** ( My name) you know that i would never do that,
you know me.”
he’ s piping a touching tune by saying that… because he referres at when i knew him in the golden period.. and when he hadn’t acting his narcissistics traits yet…
But i insist saying to him:
” Yes i knew you, but i do not know you anymore”
he gets so upset at that… not because is sorry.. but because of my constant insistence in remiding him..
😂😂
Actually that’s exactly what mine says almost down to the exact word. “no i wouldnt do that, you know me!” wow this is creepy!
Brian
Really??
Wow, this narcs are all so similar
😣
This is classic! Just another example of a typical daily conversation. These usually ended with me slamming a phone down (pre cell phone days), and the skit of “Who’s on first” running through my head.
I do miss those roundabout conversations. My life is so normal and boring now…
I so miss being able to slam a phone down. Simply pressing a button is like saying fudge when what you really want to say is fuck.
I still throw phones at the wall 12345, that is an option.
So true! My ex-narc is a thrower but I always ducked. Such good memories❤️ I called it “passion” during the golden period. Since discovering you, HG, a hard plastic object flying towards me seems inappropriate. Baby step boundaries.
I’ve stopped throwing phones, it was too much trouble having to get a new one immediately because of work (and for calling other people) repeatedly.
I hope it’s not one of your 4 phones.
I agree with Mr. HG. She should see a doctor, a sexy and handsome one.
He will give her an intensive sex therapy with him.
She will be like new in no time.
Giulia
😂😂😂
di certo …
Why don’t we hang up from a call like that and run into traffic? So frustrating. HG, how do you recover from a conversation like that? Do you just go on as if it didn’t happen?
See the book Escape, that tells you how to deal with this particular manipulation and a whole host of others.
I have to go back to the book Escape then… as i started but left it..
the problem is:
i also get fuelled by ” arguments meals tossing ”
and i do not not give up until he apologize.. even if he does it for his own advantage… i know that.
😂
Ha ha, I can laugh at this now… too bad I couldn’t when it was my reality…. that would have been way too much fun
….with final narc#3 anyway
Ms. brown I was thinking the same thing ! It is actually funny in retrospect! Lots of the shit they pulled on us was funny as in “oh please you’ve got to be kidding me 🤦🏼♀️!” I wonder if we’d just laughed at it while it was going on if we wouldn’t have been better off ? Instead of taking it to heart, internalizing, etc.(whilst removing ourselves from the situation naturally) …S
no matter what we “would have done” never would have been enough or right or this or that… it would have been a matter of dealing with it differently, imo
*vino
Phew! My mind elsewhere.
Empath word salad? 😉
Yip lol but only time we speak word salad. 😆
OMG! Some serious word salad. You talk a load of crap to get out of the blame. You are crafty individuals. Actually this was a tiresome read and I felt like helping that woman, you guessed it an empaths punch lol! If only as we know you would put the blame on us, as always. HG your mind is really behaving like a child. You are a man child. Anyway time for a vinous at least the world will go round in a nice way with that 😉
You’ve turned into Hannibal Lector again HG. 😬
Shuddering.
I am younger and more attractive than Hannibal.
That’s a relief. What would be of all my fantasies then…brrrrrrr
Goes without saying.
Just as scary though.
OMG your not a big head HG 😛
Not at all. It’s all merited and deserved.
Naturally.
Be careful you won’t get through the door HG.
That’s okay SVR, I will just go through the doorway instead.
Ffs you really do have an answer to everything. Now shut up 😉
Make me!
Where is this little lost boy and matrianc books?
Being written.
So I am kept in suspense, so unfair. Please do write faster lol. Thanks.
I think you are 40+
Try me !!!!!
are you now?
I know some articles are repeated and written over the course of time, but many of late seem to be clustered together with the theme of ultimate dominance and control. No bonding or attachments EVER. Jeesh!
HG, have you been blowing off sessions with Dr. E and Dr. O? Why don’t we ever hear about them anymore?
Hello Clarece,
I posted this at 9-11 am today to Snow White’s query.
“Hello SW, the ongoing work with the good doctors will be provided in a two volume series called ‘The Good Doctors’. I have taken the view that it will be easier to follow the thread of my treatment etc in book form rather than periodic articles. There will however be the occasional article still regarding certain elements, such as the pro social aspect, but the bulk of it will be in the book series.”
Thank you for doing a cut and paste special for me! Good to know!