The Ultimate Guide to Surviving a Smear Campaign

A smear campaign is an abuse tactic of a narcissist, typically in the later stage of the abuse cycle. Devaluing the target through a smear campaign is the final nail in the coffin to destroy their sense of self and terrorise them further. It is part of the gaslighting campaign to continue distorting the target’s perception of reality to make them believe they are at fault in the relationship.

The narcissist will recruit a third party, flying monkeys, who are assets of the narcissist. Their role is to abuse the target via proxy during the smear campaign. It becomes a type of community violence, as the third party joins in on the abuse by taunting the victim of the narcissist. Narcissists smear their victims by making up lies and accusations and projecting all their faults onto the victim.

The only way to handle a smear campaign is not to engage and remove yourself from the situation entirely, where possible. If you give it enough time, the narcissist will burn more bridges and be exposed anyway, but when you find peace within yourself, you won’t even care.

Even if they don’t – you will not be the last person they smear, and they will continue to do it for the rest of their lives.

At the core of worrying about smear campaigns, I believe, is fearing what other people think of you. There is this need to control people’s perception of us when it happens, and rightly so because narcissists accuse you of what they are. But trying to control people’s perception only leads to a lack of control, and if people believe the narcissist, they aren’t loyal to you anyway.

You have to see the bigger picture of a narcissist and see what all their behaviour means at the core of who they are. They are nothing more than a person without power. They are like balloons. When they have narcissistic supply – they are all pumped up. But when they do not – they deflate, and you realise there is nothing but air.

Narcissists can only win if you play into their game. So instead, you should choose to grow and develop a greater self-awareness because nothing will bother them more than this. When you have enough self-awareness, you see them for what they are and know that you are above it and don’t need to explain, defend, or change others’ opinions of you.

You let go of the fear of what people think of you by doing the things that scare you. Speak the truth, block the narcissist, restart your life over, and let go of taking things so personally.

Once you realise that the world is a mirror, you can feel lighter and laugh at the things that once felt offensive.

Healing from narcissistic abuse is the continual process of learning to let go. Learning to let go of what the narcissist thinks, of what other people think, and ultimately letting go of being the dumping ground for the narcissist’s inner torment and hatred.

The targets of narcissists are well-intentioned people who have no desire to harm or hurt anybody, so naturally, whatever they accuse you of isn’t true. They go for the most sensitive, loving, and kind people because they are the perfect food for these vampiric entities. Empaths and Highly Sensitive people are sponges who absorb all the negative emotions of narcissists.

Understand that smear campaigns are no reflection of you as an individual. The narcissist is simply projecting their inner world out into our reality.

When you are on the battlefield with a narcissist, it feels like a war. They are firing shots at you all the time. But they are not at war with you. They are at war with themselves. Narcissists are in a permanent war with themselves. Life is a mirror reflecting what we feel within ourselves.

Narcissists are blind to their reflection. They project these disowned parts of themselves onto others, convincing themselves everyone else is the source of their pain. Narcissism is a disorder of the soul more than anything else. It is an underdeveloped spiritual awareness that blinds them to this simple truth.

With that in mind, ask yourself, why are you fighting their battles?

Look at your reflection to find out why you are on the battlefield.

Absorbing the narcissist’s pain is a heavy weight burden. Keep detaching and letting go of the fear of other people’s opinions, and you will learn the true meaning of freedom. You will feel featherlight as you lose the weight of it all. Keep turning inwards and healing the unconscious parts of you that make you want to engage in the narcissistic dynamic in the first place.

The best way to handle a smear campaign is to ignore it and starve the narcissist of their food, and let go of fear about what other people think of you.

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