Are They An Avoidant Or Just Toxic?
What’s the difference between someone who just has an Avoidant attachment style and someone who’s just being a manipulative prick?
Avoidants are often confused with Narcissists and other toxic types of people.
On the surface, both are often perceived as arrogant, self-important, and aloof. The difference is the avoidant persona tends to self-isolate and avoid social scenarios where there’s a high risk of rejection. Narcissists enjoy and even seek out situations that could provide them with approval.
Avoidants develop a close-knit support system and rarely stray from it. Narcissists surround themselves with anybody who tells them what they want to hear.
Avoidants are often dismissive of people’s feelings because, in most cases, we never had our feelings validated and had to learn to self-soothe. We’re uncomfortable expressing emotions publicly. Narcissists feed off public attention and sympathy.