I think I might be a child of a narcissistic parent. How can I know?
Do you sometimes have feelings of worthlessness or feelings that you have to constantly prove yourself or a fear of expressing yourself or saying what you want? Do you feel like you don’t deserve attention or avoid getting attention? Do you feel others won’t like you or do feel guilty much of the time about things you shouldn’t feel guilty about? Do you feel responsible for other people’s happiness or well-being. Chances are you are a child of a narcissistic parent. Learning if you had a narcissistic parent can give you a sense of relief and give you a greater understanding of yourself. It can be the opening door to changing these feelings and behaviors and a whole new life for you.
As a therapist for many years I have learned that there can be varying degrees of narcissism. In fact, most of us have at least some small degree of narcissism in our personality. After all most of us live in a highly narcissistic society and it has to have an effect on us. However, there are some whose narcissism can be profoundly harmful, especially to a child. If you think you were raised by a narcissistic parent it would be very helpful for you to spend a little time in therapy to help identify and heal some of the damage. Remember that if you are a parent the damage that was done to you will be passed on to your children either by your own narcissism and/or your reaction to narcissism. That reaction can come as a pledge you make to yourself to never treat your children the way you were treated. This pledge can cause you to over react by being overly indulgent causing your children to be co-dependent. So if you have answered ‘yes’ to any of the questions above, find yourself a therapist that specializes in and understands narcissism and learn about how you can become a better parent and a better, a better partner in relationship, and a happier human being.
Read more about narcissism on my Advice Blog at www.wendyhill.com and choose ‘Narcissism’ under Categories. If you are interested in having a no-obligation telephone conversation call me at 760-994-9296.