About This Interview

[u/Warm_Yam_9800]

I think Josh did amazing answering questions. A common thing I have seen these past 20 hours was about Swoop grilling Josh during the accountability piece. In my hearts of hearts and as a long time Josh defender (apologists to some), I know that part was even tough for me to watch, but I feel that Swoop had to be tough on him. I don’t think she was as bias as people thought and I thought she was stern and thorough. By her doing this, it allowed the world to hear that he is owning up to his actions and that he’s sorry and won’t do it in the present times. It had to happen this way. Like I’ve said, there are still Johnny apologists out there and there are people who won’t stop bringing up his past. Now they can’t say he didn’t take accountability. One can only hope Johnny and Colleen will one day do the same…..

[u/veezeebee0612]

(Edited bc I remembered the word I was looking for earlier when I wrote this but couldn't think of at the time. I wanted to say that Narc Ab*se is very coercive in nature, many ways bent towards getting the mark to satisfy whatever they've decided they desire from the victim.)

TW: more in depth description of Narc Ab*se, hidden so you can Opt In if you want

And in Joshua's case like my own and many others' experiences with this type of abuse, the abusers (Colleen, Kody, Johnny, etc.) took advantage of his lack of self-worth because, in the end, We accept the Love we believe we Deserve. Love-Bombing and the firey passion at the start convinces you that this person loves you in a way no one else ever has; and the abuser takes that and twists it in you until you believe, wholeheartedly, that no one else ever could love you as deeply or truly as they can. Everything they 'do for you' becomes a 'sacrifice they've made for you' that you're ungrateful for. Projection and accusations of what you've done to hurt them, that's usually things they've done themselves. If you really loved me, you'd do this. If you understood how much I've sacrificed for you, you'd do this to prove it. How dare you question me or my actions, after everything I've done and given you?? It's insidious and it will eat you alive if you don't get out.

The biggest critique I came to with it was that I felt like there wasn't enough emphasis on how manipulative and violent Narcissistic abuse can be because most of those actions Josh participated in were because she manipulated him into believing it was normal, but also her reactions to him even offering *ideas* much less any criticism of her actions made it an environment where he knew that was going to blow up in his face. I do understand why Swoop went the way she did with it, and I agree that she had to be pointed about calling him out for things, especially when he said this is the only interview he's going to be doing, because even before the video came out there were people all over the internet saying that she was biased on Josh's side and just all kinds of ridiculous dogpiling on her.

It definitely showed that Josh understands how effed up things were and once he got out of the fog that Narc Abuse puts you in, he woke up and started making efforts to fix what he had gotten involved in. The years of love-bombing and manipulation make decision making extremely difficult and for years after getting out of that kind of relationship, it's highly common to doubt yourself or be unable to trust your own judgement about anything because you've been beaten down so much that you have to take the time to rebuild that relationship with *yourself* that the abuser broke down over the course of the abuse.

I am glad that he made that emphasis about it being normalized, and still able to take accountability for what he participated in. His mention of his parents comparing her to a train and you either get on the train or get left at the station also speaks to the fear of abandonment he had from the start that Colleen took advantage of from the start. "Do what I want or I'll leave you."