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Old 03-19-2013, 09:03 AM
  # 6 (permalink)  
LifeRecovery
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Right here, right now!
Posts: 3,424
This struck me hard when I first read it.

I think the part for me that responded so strongly is not about if I am naricisstic or not, but about how much in the past "labels" have been something for me to cling to, good or bad. At times I have worn my codependent label proudly because it meant that I cared about others for example. I have also done this with responsible, and I shy away from other labels like irresponsible, lazy etc.

As my recovery has progressed though I have realized that my codependency (or any other label) is about making others "okay" so am am less uncomfortable. Maybe it is narcissistic, maybe it is just codependent. I don't need either label anymore because what I have realized is that regardless of what it is labeled it is not healthy for me. It is a way I am trying to deflect my true authentic needs and my true feelings.

Sorry if that does not make a lot of sense. Another analogy that is coming to me is the label feel like the packaging on a box. My disorders though never let me get to the present inside....regardless of the packaging in place (codependent, naricisstic etc).

One more piece. I think this hit hard because I spent so much time wrapped up in the labels that it turned into another way I did not feel. That was what struck me on reading the initial post.
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