This post is a response to a question posed in its complete format: “What are 10 things you should do to protect yourself from a narcissist?”

Avoid them at all costs.

They are walking, talking radioactive isotopes who will shorten your life if they have their hooks in you and can siphon value from you like a vampire draining your blood.

You will always walk on eggshells around them.

You won’t be able to predict their behaviours or moods because they can radically shift in any direction on a whim.

You won’t be able to trust anything they tell you.

You can’t risk sharing anything personal about yourself because it will be weaponized against you when you least expect it.

If you can’t lock them out of your life, avoid them, or minimize contact with them, then become like an emotionless robot. Provide minimal information, fulfilling whatever function is required.

Show no emotion. Do not respond to their provocations. Behave as if everything they say and do is benign and of minimal concern to you.

If they provoke you for an emotional response such as empathy or compassion, present yourself in purely factual terms. “Yes, that was indeed something. Is there anything else? I must take care of a responsibility.”

Be as unambiguously dry and dull as possible while hoping they lose interest in you and move on.

This response technique is called “grey rock.” Please make no mistake, it is a survival strategy.

Good luck.