Like Christmas, Easter is often a time of family gatherings, but not all families are The Waltons. So if a family member has the ability to  make your life hell, it might be time to gen up on the phenomenon of 'narcissistic personality disorder', or 'NPD'.
I'm not on any kind of commission, but your first stop should be clinical psychotherapist Dr Les Carter. In his kindly, Texan drawl, he will open your eyes to what NPD actually is and how you can avoid falling foul of it.
The term may be initially misleading as we tend to think of Narcissus, the figure from Greek mythology, who fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water, therefore we may equate the term with vanity. But NPD is far more sinister than simple conceitedness; it can cause lives to be blighted and relationships to be destroyed.
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Perhaps one of the most damaging aspects of people with NPD is their sense of entitlement. They literally presume that you owe them, big time, all the time. Unless you yield to their demands, be prepared for the roughest of rides.
You owe them and they own you.
The 'narc' isn't always a family member; they might be a partner, boss, colleague or pretty much anyone. They're ubiquitous. But whoever they are, because of their enormously inflated sense of entitlement, they can square it with themselves to treat you worse than dirt.
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They pit people against one another, playing human chess for sport.
They lie, and they believe their own lives.
They're charming, horrifically charming.
They have no qualms about causing rifts between people, even if those rifts become permanent.
They cry victim.
They gaslight like it's an Olympic sport.
They employ the 'DARVO' technique. "Deny, Attack, and Reverse Victim & Offender."
They've got chocolate all round their mouth while they accuse you of eating the Easter egg.
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I feel evangelical about this; awareness of NPD should be taught in schools; everyone should know what this is so that they can swerve it and have the life that they were meant to live. Don't berate yourself if you have to cut ties, and certainly don't feel any shame. It's about survival.
Read Dr Les Carter's book, subscribe to his YouTube channel, join a Facebook group but not under your own name, just in case the 'narc' is sneaking around in there.
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