Narcissists even turn the lights in your home into weapons. They switch them on and off depending on their mood, depending on what you are doing. If you are sleeping, they mess with the lights. When you are resting, they suddenly turn on bright lights just to disturb you. When you are working, they deliberately switch the room into darkness so you lose focus. When you are scared or uncomfortable, they walk out and leave you in the dark on purpose.
When they want to punish you, they sit in the same room with the lights off, creating an uncomfortable, suffocating silence until you feel guilty, confused, and anxious. They make you feel like you are walking on eggshells, even around a switchboard. Light becomes another way of controlling your nervous system—overstimulating you, depriving you, or trapping you in discomfort. They know very well that your body reacts to light, that your mind calms down with soothing light, and gets distressed with sudden brightness. So they use it as a tool to control your emotional state. They don’t say anything. No, they don’t argue. They don’t scream. They let the lighting do its job. They psychologically abuse you through brightness. Can you imagine that?
Another place where narcissists show their real nature is the car. They trap you in a closed space with no escape. They use driving to intimidate you, speed up when they’re angry, bark orders, scare you, and take risky turns while acting like nothing is wrong. They do all of this because they know you can’t walk away. They know fear will force you into silence. And when they are not using aggression, they use the car for silent treatment. They drive for long stretches without saying a single word to torture you emotionally. They blast loud music you hate or keep the environment cold and quiet just to make you feel terrified. They control the air conditioning, the music, the mirrors, and the windows. Everything becomes their territory.
And when they are really angry, what do they do? They make you sit in the car, wait for hours while they stay on their phone or walk out pretending they forgot something. They leave you lonely, humiliated, and emotionally trapped. Even parking sometimes becomes abuse. They park the car badly and then blame you, or they refuse to drop you where you feel safe or where you need to go, or they leave you stranded to teach you a lesson. For them, the car is never just a vehicle; it’s a moving cage where they control the atmosphere, the power dynamic, and your emotional state.
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