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Old 02-20-2013, 11:04 AM
  # 55 (permalink)  
ShootingStar1
Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 1,452
i feel worthless.

Anonj, you are NOT worthless.

People who are narcissists, or, as AnvilheadII suggests, sociopaths, literally do not (or can not) care about what the other person feels. For a narcissist, there is only a limited supply of "feeling good" available, and for him or her to get enough, they have to take it from someone else.

They don't care at all about how the other person feels. It is not in their make-up. They are incapable of empathy. There was a chilling study done with convicted murderers to see what they actually felt. I don't remember it all, but the part that stuck with me is this. The murderers were shown a series of pictures of faces expressing basic emotions. Normal people identified the emotions as joy, fear, sadness, anger, terror, etc. One murderer looked at the face of terror and said "I don't know what they call that, but it's the face I see before I kill someone." I believe, but I would have to check it out, that their brains are wired wrong.

You are NOT worthless. To think that, what you are doing to starting to evaluate how you feel and what your worth is through HIS lens of what is worthwhile. And his lens is all about HIM. A normal person would not function this way. From what you write, he is NOT a normal person.

From my experience with a man who was heavily obsessed and using porn so much, his whole perspective about what sex was about changed radically from the loving, spiritual man I thought I had married 20 years before. Porn can be about the extremes of sexual behavior. From my experience, I believe it numbs the addict so that gentle loving, the nuances of tenderness and emotional and spiritual connection become less and less fulfilling and eventually just disregarded. Some porn is sadistic, and that can influence an addict's behavior also.

This is NOT about you. I barely escaped with my emotional and spiritual being intact. Here on SoberRecovery, EnglishGarden, AnvilheadII, Wicked, Katiekate, MadeOfGlass, among many others kept telling me what I was going through was not about me, and that I needed to get out and stay out, and they were so right. I so profoundly thank them and all of the others who fought for me against my damaged sense of self that made me feel like I should go back. They were right. It's almost 8 months now that I've been free, and I have needed every minute of that time to re-orient myself and I am coming to a place of peace. Lots more work to do, but I am happy again.

I am so glad you have broken up. Find as much support as you can to heal your self-esteem. You're worth it. We're here for you.

ShootingStar1
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