For many women, silence doesn’t begin as a choice.
It begins as survival.

We stay quiet to keep the peace. We soften our words to avoid conflict. We convince ourselves that it’s easier not to speak than to deal with the fallout. Over time, that silence becomes familiar—and costly.

For decades, divorce was seen as a young person’s problem — something that happened early, before life fully settled. But a quieter, powerful shift has been unfolding in recent years: gray divorce.

As I’ve been interviewing guests for my new podcast, Bent Not Broken: Starting Over After Abuse, several have mentioned the term “covert narcissist.” I’ve experienced narcissistic behavior before, but it made me wonder—what’s the difference between a narcissist and a covert one? The word “narcissist” has become more familiar in recent years as research sheds light on this complex personality disorder.