Within the context of a relationship, echoism can cause a seriously toxic dynamic; especially if an echoist is paired with a narcissist. The problem is: echoists tend to be attracted to narcissists, and narcissists tend to be attracted to echoists. Oops.

“Echoists often find themselves in relationships with narcissists due to their tendency to put others’ needs above their own,” Paglia tells us. “This dynamic can be damaging because the narcissist’s self-centred behaviour further reinforces the echoist’s tendencies, creating an unhealthy cycle of dependency and imbalance.”

An echoist will want to give up everything to please their partner, while a narcissist will all too happily take, take, take. The end result is a narcissist is emboldened to ramp up their unhealthy behaviours, and an echoist is encouraged to continue suppressing themselves to let the narcissist shine.

Bruton explains: “The narcissist will exploit this excessive selflessness, and bleed the echoist dry of all their internal resources. Indeed in the myth, Echo stands by Narcissus until his death, at which point she turns to stone – a vivid metaphor to show that she had no internal ‘fire’ of her own.

“The echoist will find a natural ‘home’ with a narcissist, but this is in fact the unfortunate marriage of two dysfunctional positions. Rather than push back on the echoist’s excessive giving, the narcissist might in fact exploit and encourage it. The echoist is back in a very familiar role but one that leaves them empty and depleted, neglecting their own lives. From the outside it might seem like a perfect fit, but in fact neither party is learning to be in a relationship in a healthy way.

“The echoist is often very defensive of their partner, displaying the loyalty they might have felt as a child toward their parents. They are so out of touch with their own limits that they may not realise when they are tired from emotional caretaking, need to look after themselves more, and set boundaries, for instance.”

“Echoists prioritise the needs of narcissists, who seek admiration and validation. This imbalance can result in exploitative behaviour, a lack of reciprocity, self-neglect, low self-esteem, self-blame, cycles of abuse, isolation, and difficulties in leaving the relationship,” Gottlieb adds.

Echoism is known as the opposite of narcissism, but it can be just as damaging – this is what you need to know