Mothers are supposed to protect their children from the terrors of the outside world. But what if they become the source of terror themselves?
Narcissistic mothers can hinder their child’s emotional and mental development, causing serious psychological harm that can be difficult to reverse.
Life With a Narcissistic Mother
Narcissists have zero empathy. They don’t care what others feel so long as they’re getting their own supply of attention, good or bad. Truth is that narcissists are no different when they are mothers. A narcissistic mother is frequently so self-idolizing and selfish they are unable to see the sufferings of her own children.
All a narcissist wants is complete control and constant praise and attention. For this, narcissists can go to all ends and even become unempathetically abusive to their own children regularly. Hence, they’re unable to provide their children with a safe and loving environment to grow emotionally.
How toxic is a narcissistic mother?
Apart from controlling her children completely and aggressively, narcissists also tend to engage in chronic shaming of her children. She shames them for their social and academic skills, their choice of careers, their personality, their style in clothing or hairstyles, the size and shape of their body, life partner and nearly everything and anything else is fair game.
Narcissists treat their children as extensions of themselves while simultaneously comparing them to others. This type of devaluation has a direct impact on the child’s self-esteem and can lead to anxiety-related issues in adulthood.
Moreover, a narcissistic mother competes against her own children and may often see them as a threat to her superiority. At the same time, love-bombing is also a common tactic among narcissistic mother’s when they need things to be done Mom’s way.
All in all, growing up with a narcissistic mother is synonymous to walking on eggshells every single day, you never know what’s next in the psychological rollercoaster of emotions!
If you are the survivor of a narcissistic parent, know there are skilled clinicians available who can help with ending the multigenerational cycle of passing these toxic types of personality disorders on.