Narcissistic Supply: 9 Signs You May Be Someone’s Narcissistic Supply

by Ella Carrillo · March 11, 2024

Narcissists thrive on the narcissistic supply, and they may secure it from the people around them. It may so happen that you may be the one fueling the narcissist’s need for attention but you may be unaware of this. Thus here are 9 Signs you may be someone’s Narcissistic Supply, to transform skeptical thoughts into certainty.

Narcissists yearn for narcissistic supply the same way a person may yearn for food. Narcissists survive and thrive on a narcissistic supply for which they may go beyond all limits to gain it.

You may be fueling their needs by sacrificing yours, yet you may be clueless that you are the source that provides them with their gratification supply.

You may be their constant source for gaining attention, admiration, and validation. You may be on your toes around them by catering to their needs, putting their wishes and desires above yours, making sacrifices for them, attending to their needs and ignoring yours, making them a life priority, and doing everything for them.

If all this sounds familiar, then transform your dubious thoughts into certainty as you may certainly be a narcissistic supply source for the narcissist in your life.

Let us know more about narcissists and narcissistic supply.

What is a Narcissist?

Narcissists are someone who is often characterized and peculiar regarding their trait of being self-absorbed. They hardly think about others. They always prioritize their self and their needs above others. They have a high sense of self-importance, so much so that they might even ignore their children or their parents. They even tend to ignore their life partners too, in some cases. Thus it can be concluded, that narcissists only care for themselves, their needs and desires, and their wishes.

What is Narcissistic supply?

Narcissistic supply can be referred to as a psychological concept, that is related to Narcissistic Personality Disorder and people suffering through it. Narcissistic supply is a need or an indirect demand from narcissists to acquire attention, validation, and admiration from others.

A narcissistic supply is everything that helps a narcissist to make their life fulfilled. It is that one thing that a narcissist always craves even if it is in its negative forms. It is a term that is often referred to in a negative format or sense, as it may be referred to as a pathological problem that may persuade people suffering from it to demand attention for their reassurance and existence.

One can even say that a narcissist is only able to fulfill their life purposes based on supply itself.

Narcissists obtain their narcissistic supply from people around them which may include family members, partners, children, colleagues, friends, or anyone associated closely with them who may serve some purpose for them in the given circumstance of their life.

Supply is everything that makes them important like control, praise, worth, ego boost, and everything that makes them feel superior.

Narcissistic supply is one of the prime reasons for them to commit to a relationship. They do not have love as the priority, their priority is obtaining their supply, once they drain their partners completely out of supply they would leave them or might still have them as their backup source of supply. Narcissists also have backup sources of supply in the form of ex-partners, long-distance friends, or anyone from their past.

They tend to keep a stock of supply sources, that can be in the form of people like their exes, old friends, or even family members. It is an addiction, that can not be cured completely even with the help of therapy. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a psychological mental health condition where an individual is subject to facing such urges of obtaining admiration, validation, importance, or anything that makes them feel superior to others.

Narcissists have a sense of entitlement which they fulfill with the help of the supply. They do not consider the needs of others, or form any sort of emotional attachment with them. They first view them as their source of supply, weigh their positives and negatives, and then may consider them as someone with substantial needs. Everybody craves attention, but in the case of narcissists, they crave constant and undivided attention.

Now that a little is known about narcissistic supply, here are 9 signs you may be someone’s narcissistic supply,

9 Signs You May Be Someone’s Narcissistic Supply

Narcissistic supply is a narcissist’s need for gratification from their victims without considering their feelings or needs. A narcissist’s survival becomes difficult without their supply and thus they continually abuse their victims emotionally.

Narcissists are usually good at tricking people and obtaining what they need. Here are some signs to watch out for if you have a narcissist around you,

You cannot stay away from the Narcissist

Narcissists are addicted to their source of supply. Narcissists, especially covert narcissists are good at manipulating their victims. You may receive praise and reward from narcissists only when you are providing them attention, admiration, gratification, and validation.

They may only notice you when they want something from you. You only get treated better when you provide them with what they want. You may get praised by them when you cancel your plans with other people and focus on the narcissist’s needs.

You may regret and look back only to realize that you have been isolated by the narcissist, and your bonds with your family members, friends, lover, or partner have suffered because of the narcissist in your life. It might be too late to realize that all your other relations have suffered because of the sacrifices you made for the narcissist.

Narcissists are like people magnets, and it is challenging to part ways with them.

You feel extremely guilty, and the guilt does not leave

Narcissists manipulate people to make them think they are guilty and thus receive what they desire out of other people’s guilt. They know that it is a human tendency to give more attention when someone feels guilty.

Narcissists desire your undivided attention and they may make you feel guilty constantly.

For instance, when you are with someone other than the narcissist, and the narcissist knows you have canceled your plans with them just to be with others, they may call you stating that they miss you or their work has been pending just because they needed your help to complete something.

They may try to make you feel guilty and thus state their importance in your life. For you only they should be your priority all the time every time, and when that does not happen, they make you feel extremely guilty so much so that your guilt starts overwhelming you.

You feel like you do not know yourself anymore

When you are with a narcissist, you may start losing yourself. You no longer be the person you used to be. People may also notice these changes as they are quite noticeable. So when people mention you being a changed individual then do not ignore that and give it a second thought.

Being with a narcissist means living for them, doing everything for them, and depend your survival upon them. Narcissists project their false realities and negative emotions onto people around them and thus they may no longer be themselves only working according to the narcissist’s demands.

You may sooner or later realize that you have lost self-confidence, self-worth, and self-love as you may constantly be working for them, being with them, and living as the narcissist says.

You start feeling that you used to be a different person, but this realization may take longer than required, and changing yourself then becomes challenging. You may realize you have become just like the narcissist as being someone may make you adopt their style.

You may have become selfish, uncaring, and even an emotional robot, but only a lesser affected version of the narcissist. But you can change the moment you make up your mind.

So once you start feeling uneasy in your skin, the problem may rise to the surface and you know what you need to do. Start adopting the self you used to be before meeting the narcissist.

You find yourself suffering from Anxiety, Depression, and PTSD

When you are a victim of narcissistic abuse, your relationship with the abuser may be uncertain and the dynamics of this relationship may comprehend the feelings of fear, worries, and distress.

Anxiety led by narcissistic abuse can result in excessive sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat, and digestive issues. When a person is not happy their health might start deteriorating immediately.

Suffering from narcissistic abuse, a victim may avoid places, people, and all such associations to avoid or minimize potential triggers and thus suffer from depression from isolation.

Narcissists keep on repeating their manipulative cycle of abuse, and the victims either accept it or keep turning a blind eye to those traumatic events. C-PTSD and PTSD both can occur to the victims of Narcissistic abuse but C-PTSD is more likely to occur in victims of Narcissistic abuse as narcissistic abuse is not a single-time event, and it is a series of abuse that occurs in a loop.

You feel like an empty shell

When your energy is drained you start feeling uncomfortable, uneasy, and fatigued. Your life is a battery for the narcissist, and they may be using your power to fuel their life. You may start feeling worn out as the narcissist sucks out of positivity, energy, and all the good things and leave you to be an empty shell.

A narcissist may drain their supply source by seeking constant attention, gratification, adoration, and validation from them. Once you have emptied yourself and poured out every drop of energy for them, they start treating you as a thing that has run out of battery and is of no use any longer.

You may discarded and replaced by someone else, and thus you start to question the series of events.

For instance, if you start excelling in your life, your narcissistic friend might be jealous of you and no longer wish to continue the friendship after using you for what they need from you. They may do so as your focus has shifted and your priority is yourself and not theirs.

Thus you may feel used and like an empty shell.

You constantly feel confused

Narcissists are inconsistent, and contradictory, and often display duality in their behavior thus their victims may feel confused as sometimes they may be extremely sweet and caring, and once they have used you or grown out of you, their behavior changes and indicates that they no longer need you in their life.

Such dual behavior patterns may confuse the victims. You may start your sanity as to what went wrong and how you have displeased the narcissist for them to leave you.

Thus their behavior may confuse their narcissistic supply sources or the victims of their abusive behavior.

You have low self-esteem and lower self-worth

Being with a narcissist is draining. You might lose your self-worth, self-trust, and self-love by being with them, as every relationship is always about them. You would be ignored along with your wishes, desires, and worth. Anything about you is always neglected.

Constantly being with a toxic person can affect you and you may always blame yourself for everything whenever something goes wrong around you be it with a friend, a family member, or a colleague. You may always feel responsible for what is happening around you even though those things have nothing to do with you.

Thus being with a narcissist can affect your self-confidence, self-worth, and self-esteem severely.

Final Thoughts

Narcissists yearn for narcissistic supply the same way a person may yearn for food. Narcissists survive and thrive on a narcissistic supply for which they may go beyond all limits to gain it.

Narcissists are usually good at tricking people and obtaining what they need. Thus the above-mentioned tips may help you realize the fact that you are being victimized by the narcissist around you for obtaining their narcissistic supply.

If you are still dealing with the narcissist find ways to not get affected and if you have already parted ways focus on healing your soul and self from the narcissistic abuse.

Remember that dealing with narcissists and their manipulative tactics is never easy. Thus self-healing requires you to believe in yourself, be self-aware, and prioritize and protect your well-being. Also, make sure to protect your emotional and mental well-being.

Make sure to surround yourself with positive and uplifting people around you.

Author
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Ella Carrillo

Hey Reader, I am Ella, an Online and Offline Therapist holding an experience of 6 years in this field.

From Relationship, Depression, and Personality Disorder to Narcissistic problems, I have helped a lot of people find their solutions. Upon gathering a number of common problems that people face, I decided to put the information on this blog so that anyone can get their answers easily.

Narcissistic Supply: 9 Signs You May Be Someone’s Narcissistic Supply

What is a Narcissist?

What is Narcissistic supply?