Blogs, Articles & Long Reads
DISCLAIMER: Narcissists are not all male. Using male pronouns to reference the narcissist and female pronouns to reference the victim-survivor is not an indication of the clinical data on gender in narcissism, but rather an editorial choice. This blog is written for female survivors of male perpetrators.
What to Do When Your Family Blames You
How does the family scapegoat recover from narcissistic abuse
How To Handle a Family Narcissist
How to use mindfulness (Grey Rock) and keeping a healthy distance from a narcissist instead of ‘pandering’ or ‘co-dependent’ behaviours.
CBT for Later Stage Recovery
Trauma feeds the tendency towards distorted thinking leading to emotional disregulation. The antidote is in mindful awareness (being able to notice our thoughts and tolerate our emotions) and choosing self-compassion and the Middle Way (from Buddhist Psychology) instead.
How To Realign With Your Core Values
Recover your sanity by recovering your core values after narcissistic abuse. PTSD is a moral injury sustained from attacks to our core values by a person of no conscience.
Is it Contagious?
Survivors of narcissistic abuse can develop anxieties that they have developed a personality disorder as a result of their abuse. Causation is the difference. Trauma can heal, narcissism is pathological.
Education & Awakening
Education. Serious and painful study. Coming to terms with the fact of Dark Triad humans. Caution. This stage can take a long time (years), and be extremely triggering, running parallel to phases to come. Tread carefully.
Secondary Trauma
There is a weird phenomenon. By blaming the victim. By pointing out how they brought it on themselves. By telling them to 'get over it'. By telling them we don't want to know about their troubles because we have troubles of our own. By relieving ourselves of our duty as family and friends to support and empower rather than belittle and demean, we can cause secondary trauma.
Stage 1 of Recovery
Traditionally, there are thought to be three stages to trauma recovery across the spectrum of survivors of rape, domestic abuse, torture, and combat. The first stage is restoration of safety. The second stage is remembrance and mourning. The third stage is reconnection with ordinary life.
The Stages of Acceptance
If we try to answer this question through the lens of Buddhist psychology, we could distil the answer down to one word: resistance.
For almost all of us, the crisis is not only circumstantial but existential. We have lost our innocence and woken up to the fact that the world (including humankind) is not the way we thought it was or the way we’d like it to be.
Antidotes For Reactive Abuse
Being highly reactive is a common trauma symptom. Case studies are filled with instances of women being accused of being the abusive one because they responded to the first hidden punch thrown by the narcopath. This is called reactive abuse.
The Role of Repetition Compulsion in Victimisation
Many victims are unconsciously drawn again and again to reconstruct the circumstances in which the original trauma occurred. It is as if the victim tries to re-write the story of their past so that it didn’t happen the way they remember it (as having a devastating and debilitating outcome).
Why Me?(…of all the fish in the sea?)
You are not to blame! On the whole, narcopaths prey on the kindest, most loyal and generous people. They prey on innocents!
No Contact Or Limited Contact?
Why does this site and every other Narcissistic Abuse support site recommend NO CONTACT? Because he gets a buzz out of inflicting pain on YOU.
Feeling Crazy
Your limbic system kicks in, floods your body with fear hormones and adrenalin and you can shift between wanting to fight, freeze or run for your life, but you just can't regain your normal composure from that moment forth. Your body won't let you. It's in your body.
Not a Normal Break Up
This break-up is different from other break ups you’ve had before. Why? It’s not like you haven’t had a break up before is it? But this one is different. Very, very different. Here’s why…
Self-Care for Stress & Trauma
We have been neglected and abused for a long time. Now, it is time for intensive self-care.
What Do You Most Want to Read About?
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Divorce
- Sep 19, 2022 Divorcing a Narcopath
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MindfulnessHealing
- Dec 9, 2023 A Mindful Approach to Recovery Maintenance
- Feb 7, 2023 What to Do When Your Family Blames You
- Aug 10, 2022 Stage 2 of Recovery
- Sep 15, 2021 Shame
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MindfulnessTechniques
- Jul 11, 2023 Shame - The Second Arrow
- Jan 2, 2023 How To Handle a Family Narcissist
- Feb 1, 2021 Antidotes For Reactive Abuse
- Jun 27, 2020 Self-Care for Stress & Trauma
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NarcissisticSociopath
- Sep 9, 2024 Are Psychopaths Mentally Superior?
- Feb 7, 2023 What to Do When Your Family Blames You
- Jan 2, 2023 How To Handle a Family Narcissist
- Nov 15, 2022 Playing Dirty - A Story of Post-Separation Abuse
- Nov 1, 2022 Pressing Delete - The Discard Destroy Phases
- Sep 19, 2022 Divorcing a Narcopath
- Jan 17, 2022 Narcissistic Logic Psychopathic Morality
- Oct 27, 2021 Narcopath or Garden-Variety Jerk
- Aug 23, 2021 Betrayal Trauma
- Aug 29, 2020 FAQ
- Jul 18, 2020 Manipulation Tactics of a Love Fraud
- Jun 18, 2020 Is Your Ex a Narcopath?
- Jun 18, 2020 The Narcissistic Relationship Cycle
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PsychoEducation
- Sep 9, 2024 Are Psychopaths Mentally Superior?
- Dec 26, 2022 CBT for Later Stage Recovery
- Dec 13, 2022 How To Realign With Your Core Values
- Nov 1, 2022 Pressing Delete - The Discard Destroy Phases
- Jan 17, 2022 Narcissistic Logic Psychopathic Morality
- Oct 27, 2021 Narcopath or Garden-Variety Jerk
- Oct 18, 2021 Education & Awakening
- Sep 15, 2021 Shame
- Aug 23, 2021 Betrayal Trauma
- Aug 31, 2020 What Is Moral Injury?
- Jul 18, 2020 Manipulation Tactics of a Love Fraud
- Jul 11, 2020 Not a Normal Break Up
- Jun 18, 2020 Is Your Ex a Narcopath?
- Jun 18, 2020 The Narcissistic Relationship Cycle
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Recovery
- Feb 7, 2023 What to Do When Your Family Blames You
- Jan 2, 2023 How To Handle a Family Narcissist
- Dec 26, 2022 CBT for Later Stage Recovery
- Dec 13, 2022 How To Realign With Your Core Values
- Jul 11, 2022 Is it Contagious?
- Oct 18, 2021 Education & Awakening
- Aug 23, 2021 Secondary Trauma
- Jun 2, 2021 Stage 1 of Recovery
- May 24, 2021 The Stages of Acceptance
- Feb 1, 2021 Antidotes For Reactive Abuse
- Oct 26, 2020 The Role of Repetition Compulsion in Victimisation
- Oct 5, 2020 Why Me?(…of all the fish in the sea?)
- Sep 27, 2020 No Contact Or Limited Contact?
- Aug 20, 2020 Feeling Crazy
- Jul 11, 2020 Not a Normal Break Up
- Jun 27, 2020 Self-Care for Stress & Trauma
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WhatHappenedToYou
- Dec 9, 2023 A Mindful Approach to Recovery Maintenance
- Jul 11, 2023 Shame - The Second Arrow
- Nov 15, 2022 Playing Dirty - A Story of Post-Separation Abuse
- Aug 10, 2022 Stage 2 of Recovery
- Jul 11, 2022 Is it Contagious?
- Jan 17, 2022 Narcissistic Logic Psychopathic Morality
- Oct 27, 2021 Narcopath or Garden-Variety Jerk
- Sep 15, 2021 Shame
- Aug 23, 2021 Secondary Trauma
- Aug 23, 2021 Betrayal Trauma
- Sep 27, 2020 No Contact Or Limited Contact?
- Aug 31, 2020 What Is Moral Injury?
- Aug 29, 2020 FAQ
- Aug 20, 2020 Feeling Crazy
- Jul 18, 2020 Manipulation Tactics of a Love Fraud
- Jul 11, 2020 Not a Normal Break Up
- Jun 26, 2020 Narcissistic Abuse Syndrome
- Jun 26, 2020 Not a Normal Relationship
- Jun 18, 2020 The Narcissistic Relationship Cycle