"Saxton hopes her new book, My Parent the Peacock, will help people to recognise, and recover from, a narcissistic parent. They might have grown up being controlled, in an environment where love was conditional, gaslighting was common, and they were often blamed, belittled and criticised. Their parents' needs came above their own, and their mother or father was emotionally exploitative."
"The term narcissist is commonly used, particularly on social media, as a general insult, or as a way of explaining selfish behaviour, but this dilutes the reality of someone with real narcissistic personality disorder [NPD], says Saxton. The difficulty is that people who really need support dealing with one probably don't get the level they need, because everyone eyerolls a bit if you say, I think my partner, parent, boss, whoever, is narcissistic.'"
"Saxton practises in London and New York. She trained to be a psychotherapist after a long and successful corporate career, but her interest in narcissism is more personal: for several years, she was close to someone she believes had NPD (though they were never diagnosed). I became a shell of myself, she says of the impact of the relationship, and it took two years for her to recover."
Many people only recognize they were raised by a narcissistic parent later in life, often after forming intimate relationships or meeting partners' families. Growing up in homes with conditional love, control, gaslighting, blame, belittlement and criticism leads to emotional exploitation and parents' needs consistently prioritized over children's. Such childhood experiences can produce long-term consequences that persist into adulthood. Overuse of the label 'narcissist' on social media dilutes recognition of true narcissistic personality disorder, leaving many who need support dismissed. Recovery from relationships with people with NPD can take years, and targeted awareness and support are essential for healing.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]