Symptoms of Trauma
Trauma survivors have symptoms of the trauma in their behaviours and thoughts, these are not their personality or character but are echoes of trauma. Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is…
3D rendered medical illustration of male anatomy - amygdala. plain black background. lateral view
The Brain and Trauma
Swollen AmygdalaA child living under traumatic conditions will develop a brain that is very biased to danger. This will last into adulthood. This is done through the amygdala which is…
Triggers and Triggering
A child who has lived in a situation of stress and abuse for a prolonged time will usually develop Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This is an elaborate system of…
How We Become Our Own Abuser
Children of narcissists will often ‘internalise the narcissist’. This means to develop part of the brain/personality which mirrors/copies the narcissist’s critical voice. This defence mechanism ensures that the child can…
Two coffee cups
Black and White Thinking
Black and white, all or nothing or dichotomous thinking is a pattern of thinking that develops in early childhood. It develops in children who have come from difficult backgrounds where…
Fear of the Self
The fear of the self which the child of the narcissist feels is the fear of abandonment. As a child they have been emotionally neglected, punished and abandoned when they…
Guilt
Many children of narcissists may not be aware that they are usually in service of others and do not really do anything just for themselves or consider their wants and needs to be important. If they do something for themselves or if they do not do something which other people want them to do, they may feel an overwhelming sense of guilt.
