I would like to see if anyone has any insight regarding this. Has there ever been any comparison between cults and narcissistic relationships? I realize that most cult leaders must be narcissists…But is there ever a “cult of one follower?” I was in a very narcissistic relationship for 18 years. I got out about 12 years ago. I have watched multiple documentaries on cults and am repeatedly struck by the ways in which the narcissist mimicked the leader of a cult. The damage I sustained was remarkably similar with some key differences. Over the course of those 18 years, I was changed from a very self-sufficient, financially independent person into a mass of insecurities who TRULY questioned whether I would be able to survive without him. I was convinced that the only reason I had anything, WAS anything, was because of him. In hindsight and even at the time, I realized that was not logically true, however it was ingrained deep into my psyche. I lost myself so completely that when asked “If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?” I had no answer. I had so given up on wanting anything or dreaming about anything that I was blank. There was part of me that hated him from about year 5 but I was terrified to leave him. I was certain that he would make me pay. (and he did- even though it was he who finally left me after I was a shell and no longer willing to worship him). Looking back over those years his tactics were like cult tactics. He isolated me from my family psychologically, convinced me that he was all I had. He convinced me that no one else would ever be interested in me by destroying my self-esteem. He triangulated me and my children to the point he had them convinced that I was unstable and insane. He did the same with my family members who thought I was incredibly lucky to have him. He did such outrageous and illogical things that when I tried to talk to family they honestly thought I must be lying because it made no logical sense. By doing this he succeeded in taking most of my family away from me because I could not trust them. He gaslighted me until I felt completely incompetent and unable to trust myself to do the simplest things or make the simplest decisions. Near the end I gave up my faith and he became my “God”. The ONLY moral value of what I did was his approval. If I had robbed a bank and he said it was OK…then it was OK. I believed him over myself. He never physically abused me but if I did not do what he wanted or function as he wanted, he would punish my children, that effectively kept me subdued. Despite the lack of physical abuse, when we finally split up, when he came anywhere within my site I had a physical reaction, visibly shaking and nearly panicking. All of that was accomplished even though he never laid a hand on me. It has been 12 years and I still cannot fathom being anywhere that he is. I left the state because I could not stand the idea of running into him. It has taken all this time to make the recovery I have made, and I still have periods of extreme anger. So, do you think there is any such thing as a cult of one? Or it was larger than that because he also deluded my family. Any feedback welcome. Thanks!