advertisement

Personality Disorders

By the time my narcissist boyfriend hit me, we were more than a year into our relationship. Though he had yelled at me plenty, I had no clue until the moment his hand crashed into my face that physical violence was in his repertoire. Nor did I know he was a narcissist and already priming another woman to replace me. I did know, having been tipped off by his daughter, that he had kept secret from me an addiction to meth. I should have left upon this discovery, but I was far too enmeshed to escape. Besides, my narcissist boyfriend promised to change and I thought forgiving him was the high road.
Coming out of the mental illness closet is tough. Almost 90 percent of the time, I do not tell people about my mental health or diagnoses. However, this article is the beginning of me living a more authentic life. I am ready to share my own mental health story, publicly, under my real name. More importantly, I want to help break the stigma around mental health and inspire other people to share their own stories. I want to come out of the mental illness closet.