Narcissistic abuse is a form of emotional abuse where the narcissist uses words and actions to manipulate their partner's emotional state and behavior. These individuals can cause long-term damage to their victim's psyche, with effects ranging from mild to severe, depending on how they endured the relationship.
Here's how narcissistic abuse can affect you:
Anxiety and depression
Many survivors of narcissistic abuse live with anxiety for the rest of their lives. You may experience extreme fear in new relationships while leaving your abuser can cause severe separation anxiety.
Victims of this abuse often tend to develop depression as well, with survivors struggling with lingering feelings of worthlessness for months or years after the relationship is over. Years of manipulation and gaslighting may also lead you to self-isolation, worsening the feeling of depression.
Post-traumatic stress
Narcissistic abuse survivors often suffer from symptoms of PTSD. Your brain will constantly be searching for signs of dangers due to traumatic events triggering a fight or flight response. Anything associated with these bad memories can trigger your anxiety or make you relive the abuse in your own head. You might steer clear of particular people or certain places that remind you of your abuse.
Loss of self-worth
You might feel like you've completely lost your sense of self. Narcissistic abuse brainwashes its victims and destroys their self-worth, leaving them feeling lost and broken compared to who they used to be. You might struggle with intense trust issues regarding other people, especially those close to you, while finding yourself drowning in self-doubt.
You might feel like you're not good enough or feel ashamed because you start believing that you did something that caused the abuse. You may even undergo trouble when trying to make decisions, getting easily confused, or finding you're completely unable to do so.
Cognitive problems
Surviving with narcissistic abuse can affect your cognitive processes, making it difficult to concentrate on everyday activities such as watching TV or completing your work. You may experience loss of memory, especially in the short term. This is due to the release of stress hormones caused by trauma that affects your brain's hippocampus region.
Get psychotherapy services in New Jersey
Healing from narcissistic abuse takes a long time with plenty of effort. It often destroys the foundation of many people's lives due to the constant betrayal, gaslighting, and heartbreak that they suffer through. You may even lose family members and friends along the way, resulting in a lack of emotional support in your healing journey. Reach out to a mental health expert at Stem Wellness to work through your feelings with an empathetic individual who can help you get back on your feet.
We also offer professional individual counseling, marriage or relationship counseling, and family therapy in New Jersey.
Contact us to book an appointment today.