Hello, Good morning, good afternoon, good night wherever you are. My name is Sue and I’d
just like to give a shout to all my Jamaican people and others of you who are tuned in at the
moment. This is just an introduction to my Youtube channel, Life Talk, where I will be sharing
with you my journey, recovering from narcissistic abuse. Now, I’m sure that some of you are
saying, oh my gosh, I’ve suffered from that and some of you are saying, what? What is that?
Well, narcissistic abuse is abuse that is perpetrated by someone who suffers from
narcissism or sociopathy.
What is narcissism then? The word narcissism is used loosely to describe a general
preoccupation with self, while Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a diagnosed mental illness
where people have an inflated sense of their own importance and a deep need for excessive
attention and admiration; these individuals have troubled relationships and a lack of
empathy. This condition does not just develop randomly. Research has revealed that
although it can be inherited, Narcissism usually occurs as a result of childhood trauma, and
as you might be aware, the basic foundation of our personality is laid down in the first few
years of life, so if those early years are characterised by traumatic events, proper emotional
development fails to happen and this is manifested in various maladaptations in adult life.
So, Let me state categorically at this point, that my intention is neither to judge nor to
embarrass, because illness of any kind deserves sympathy and understanding, and
therefore, my intention is simply to raise the awareness that mental illness is not just
confined to the person eating from the garbage bin. There is an array of mental health issues
that we as a society are ignorant of, and NPD characteristics happen to be highly prevalent
in our society. Physical illnesses are easy to identify because they are usually accompanied
by signs and symptoms like swelling and pain that push us to seek medical attention in order
to relieve the discomfort. Mental illness on the other hand can go undetected by both the
sufferer and the victim for a long time and can be attributed to someone just being mad or
bad.
Since I have encountered narcissistic abuse I have come into contact with several
individuals who are being personally affected or know someone who has been affected by it.
Even looking back to my own upbring and socialization, I can say that I have been impacted
by narcissism pretty much all my life. In almost all the cases I am aware of, the perpetrators
of Narcissistic abuse are men and the abuse happened or is currently happening in the
context of a family relationship where children are involved; In each case, the man has either
left the home or is on his way out and sadly, the children are always the ones who suffer the
most.m Narcissistic personality traits are highly prevalent in men who leave. I am not
negating the fact that there are female narcissists. However, the departure of the father from
the home presents a different set of dynamics when compared to when the mother leaves.
Also, I am focusing on the men involved because of my personal experience and also
because it is overwhelmingly evident that it is the men who opt to leave the majority of the
time. If you are in doubt, check out the numbers. Currently, according to the statistics 40% of
Jamaican households are headed by single mothers, and these absent fathers didn’t all die
off in some mysterious war; they chose to leave. This has had a profoundly negative effect
on our society.
In my upcoming presentations, I will shed some light on the ways in which my life has been
affected by narcissistic abuse and how I have dealt with up to this point. There will be
interviews with both professionals in the field and also other victims of narcissistic abuse.
Feel free to leave your questions and comments below. Until next time, simply position your
finger to like and subscribe. See you later; stay tuned.