June 1st is World Narcissistic Abuse Awareness Day.

The thing about narcissists?

They don’t come with warning labels. There’s no sign that says, “I’m about to erode your confidence, distort your reality, and leave you questioning your own instincts.”

If only it were that obvious.

In my case, the red flags weren’t just missed, they were dressed up as loyalty, leadership, and legacy.

I wasn’t just working for them. I was working with them. Entrenched in systems built to protect power, not people.

Praise came with a price. Loyalty was transactional. And dissent? That was treated like betrayal.

I spent years navigating spaces where charm masked control, where manipulation was rebranded as mentorship, and where abuse wore a professional smile.

These weren’t strangers. They were figures I was supposed to trust. And when the mask slipped, when I finally saw it for what it was, it was already too late. The damage had been done quietly, incrementally, and with plausible deniability.

That’s why this day matters.

Because narcissistic abuse doesn’t just happen behind closed doors in intimate relationships, it thrives in boardrooms, in unions, in family businesses, in places where egos are protected at all costs.

And survivors? We’re often left to pick up the pieces in silence, still trying to convince ourselves it wasn’t as bad as it felt.

But it was.

And the more we speak about it, even in whispers, even in coded truths, the more power we take back.

You’re not imagining it. You’re not overreacting.

And you’re not alone.