Dear Violet,
What I have learned, and am increasingly aware of, is that there is a real need for a healthy balance in life, and more so, in working through all this stuff. At one stage, at first, I did not have a healthy balance, and it led me on a downward spiral of doom and gloom, all NPD and nowt else.
So, I shook that off, dusted myself down, and went forward, with a then, reasonably healthy balance, i.e. with other activities, outdoor pursuits, even if it was just tidying up outside, or a gentle walk.
What I realize now is that during the initial stage, with the shock of finding out the real truth of the NPD person(s) in our life, what happens is that we face a complete change of family dynamics, to deal with, before, we even begin to commence on a personal healing journey.
Almost like, an eraser is wiped across our indentity, the identity we lived in, and were 'comfortable' in knowing, because, that is all that we knew.
Hope I am making sense, if not, please ask, hopefully, I will be able to explain what I am rambling about!!
Love, Leah