In the beginning of a romantic relationship with a narcissist, a victim may describe the initial infatuation stage as “otherworldly.” The emotional high can feel like a drug cocktail as potent as cocaine, heroin, and ecstasy, all rolled into one noxious dose that lasts a few weeks, months, or in some cases a year or slightly more. Victims of narcissistic abuse report feeling as if they have found their soulmate, and often the narcissist will declare their “true love” or insist you are their “soul mate” very early on in the relationship. “Love bombing” is a phrase describing this stage, in which the narcissistic person may smother the target with praise, courting, intense sex, vacations, and grand promises of a future together. future faking.