Are you feeling emotionally numb after narcissistic abuse? This might be why!
This video was made in response to a request from someone in a recent weekday morning chat, who asked why she felt like she was completely detached from the world, including her Self.
My response? I think she’s dealing with a C-PTSD complication called dissociation – two symptoms of which include depersonalization and derealization. This can be accompanied and even partially caused by depression and anxiety.
One of the most commonly reported side-effects of being abused by a narcissist in a relationship of any kind is C-PTSD (Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), and one of the most common ways this can manifest in the victims and survivors of narcissistic abuse and gaslighting manipulation is in the form of dissociation.
Dissociation on a metaphorical level looks a lot like being a passenger in a car rather than the driver. Like, you’re seeing all of the turns and the journey, but you’re just along for the ride. The ride is happening TO you rather than you choosing the route.
In this video, I’ll fill you in on why we detach from ourselves after narcissistic abuse and traumatic experiences, and how we started doing it in the first place. Plus, I’ll tell you how dissociating is your brain’s way of saving itself during the trauma of physical and psychological abuse. Plus, I’ll start explaining how you can begin to deal with it so that you can stop feeling the painful emotional numbness that comes with it and start living your life again.
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Angela Atkinson is a certified trauma counselor and the author of more than 20 books on narcissism, narcissistic abuse recovery, and related topics. A recognized expert on narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder who has studied and written extensively on narcissistic personality disorder and narcissistic abuse in toxic relationships since 2006, she has a popular narcissistic abuse recovery YouTube channel. Atkinson was inspired to begin her work as a result of having survived toxic relationships of her own.
Atkinson offers trauma-informed narcissistic abuse recovery coaching and has certifications in trauma counseling, life coaching, level 2 therapeutic model, CBT coaching, integrative wellness coaching, and NLP. She is a certified trauma support coach and certified family trauma professional. She also has a professional PTSD counseling certification. Her mission is to help those who have experienced the emotional and mental devastation that comes with narcissistic abuse in these incredibly toxic relationships to (re)discover their true selves, stop the gaslighting and manipulation, and move forward into their genuine desires – into a life that is exactly what they choose for themselves.
Along with her solution-focused life coaching experience, Atkinson’s previous career in journalism and research helps her to offer both accurate and understandable information for survivors of abuse in a simple-to-understand way that helps to increase awareness in the narcissistic abuse recovery community. Atkinson founded QueenBeeing.com Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support, the SPANily Narcissistic Abuse Recovery Support Groups and the Life Makeover Academy.
She offers individual and group coaching for victims and survivors of narcissistic abuse at NarcissisticAbuseRecovery.Online.
