How A Narcissistic Parent Affects Attachment

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In this video we cover: attachment, dismissive avoidant, anxious preoccupied, dismissive avoidant, fearful avoidant, attachment theory NPD, narcissist, cluster b, malignant, covert, fleas, fawn, abandonment, toxic parents, parenting, gaslighting, gaslight, child development, triggers, tools, therapy tools, conflict, self-regulation, toxic, toxic family systems, boundaries, truth, childhood trauma, inner child, inner child work, c-ptsd, ptsd, narcissistic abuse, healing, abusive parents, emotional abuse, childhood ptsd, repressed memories, hypervigilance, narcissistic parents, emotionally abusive parents, child abuse, narcissistic father, childhood emotional neglect, abuse, narcissistic mother, alcoholism, scapegoat, genogram, siblings, dissociation, trauma, scapegoat
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
3:34 Connect With Me
5:01 General Attachment Theory Styles
6:12 Vibe Examples
8:54 Three Ideas About Adult Attachment
9:39 Common Examples of These Ideas
10:48 Narcissistic Parenting Styles
12:45 Parent and Child Relationship Problems
13:53 Developing Attachment Styles
14:33 Anxious Avoidant
18:30 Fearful Avoidant
22:53 Dismissive Avoidant
26:49 Final Thoughts
30:41 Outro
Learn more about Patrick Teahan,
Childhood Trauma Resources and Offerings
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⚠️ Disclaimer
My videos are for educational purposes only. Information provided on this channel is not intended to be a substitute for in person professional medical advice. It is not intended to replace the services of a therapist, physician, or other qualified professional, nor does it constitute a therapist-client or physician or quasi-physician relationship.
If you are, or someone you know is in immediate danger, please call a local emergency telephone number or go immediately to the nearest emergency room.
If you are having emotional distress, please utilize 911 or the National Suicide Hotline
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[@19910601wsj]

I was in my twenties when I realized that it is not normal that neither of my parents wanted custody of me when they got divorced. I am so used to being neglected that I don't even know I was being neglected.

[@-berberry]

I represent this remark. ♡

[@paxsmile]

Yes, you think it’s normal to not be loved, not be cared for, to be a shadow, a burden.. a speck on the wall.

[@Kas_Styles]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@pennycoyote3855]

..."What can't be changed must be a burden carried on..." JESSICA LANGES in that movie with Liam Nelson, whose name I've forgotten. I also carry this burden deeply within my dna... once I saw a documentary about this very subject...this 89 year old woman was talking about her memories, tears running down her face and she began to cry until she couldn't stop and then help came, ...change body position and posture. ...change thoughts do an action that self is loved, accepted, and forgiven. ...go, for a walk, get outside and realize that feelings are fleeting and can change when you allow for it. My brain 🧠 must exercise that ability to practice control and focus. Because I know that I am that 89 year old woman 😊❤🎉

[@1trompet146]

❤❤❤❤❤ may you find peace and happiness

[@corinnefugal6967]

Took me 49 years to learn that “it wasn’t THAT bad,” means it was EXACTLY that bad. Omissions of love, safety, being wanted…they are abuse. My core belief in EMDR: I will never matter to anyone. I am so sad for little me, sometimes.

[@DhukuAC]

You do matter. And you will matter to someone.

[@SerenEnfys]

You DO matter. And I hope one day you realise you’ve come this far and to this point because YOU matter to YOU 💛

[@raelatable8798]

You and the little you inside of you both matter so much.

[@beaucarbary5619]

"The child will be indebted for any kind of caregiving" ooof that hit home

[@bronwyntanner4501]

I love that expression: "burdened by being a parent." My narcissistic mother. I honestly don't believe she wanted me - she certainly behaved like it all my life. I felt her dislike, even loathing of me. Finally went no contact March 2013 at 54 years old. Have worked so hard at healing and recovering from damage done in childhood. I divorced the passive aggressive covert narcissist June 2017 and set myself free from 14 years of insane marriage! Happy joyous and free and learning all about me!! Thank you for your input

[@kirstinstrand6292]

I think we all believe our mother's loved us. I only learned through a dream that my mother did not bond with me, when born. My Dad said that Anna could not love. I thought he meant that she could not love him! No, no one; because of her difficult childhood. See? Unless complexes are understood, life is rough. Take care of yourselves my bros and sisters.

[@shellyboggus1840]

I cut off from my mother in Jan 2022 at age 52, I am still in the beginning stages of healing, but I cannot tell you how freeing it was. I wish you love and light on your journey to healing!

[@nikkilove6035]

I hope you find healing and love of oneself more going forward..you are loved,valued and you matter!!

[@awaken2yogawithvandanadill545]

So happy for you. It’s still a tough journey but you will be more free.

[@serenity90210]

Your stories resonate with me. I'm about to go total no contact after being drawn in by my elderly narcissistic mother after 25 years of no contact as she enjoyed her life without me and my daughter and grandchildren. Thank you for not making me feel guilty.

[@melanieduke5816]

My parents emotionally neglected me. I was never shown any physical affection or kindness. I realized this when at age 7 or so, my friend's mom just randomly gave me a small hug and called me "dear". I was in shock that that happened as my own mom had never done that. My dad never even talked to me unless I asked him about something he was interested in (he was a physics proffessor). I was critized my whole life. I ran away at 15, went back but left for good at 19. I am semi contact with my mom now (dad passed about 1 yr ago). At age 59 my mom still finds things to criticize me about i.e. my hair colour, my car, my house eventhough all of those things are just fine. I only ever felt close to my mom one time when she coloured with me in a colouring book for about half an hour at our cottage. Thats it. Very sad. I have been in therapy and on medication for about 25 years. Currently doing somatic therapy. This is the 1st time i have told my whole story in such a straight forward way. Patrick you helped me and many others more than you'll ever know. Thank you 💐❤.

[@going-easy]

Thanks for sharing!

[@marriabuchan3141]

Yes Thankyou for sharing. I have many similarities. ❤

[@KittyFane-sm8fy]

My issues have some similarities in that my mother abruptly dropped taking care of me at age three when my sister was born. She sent me out to play in a dangerous area alone. And just didn't seem to want me around. I couldn't understand how I had gone from being loved and some degree of focus, to dropping off the list of loved ones. She seemed always angry and put out. I got locked out of the high security apartments(had to be buzzed in, and often she wouldn't get to it, )so I waited for adults to go I'm, and I'd follow stepped on broken bottles(was usually barefoot) chased by neighborhood teens, and sent on my own to church several blocks away to meet some rich lady I had never met who happened to live in a mansion so that I could be a playmate for her daughter , all when i was under age five. I would not treat a pet gerbil that way.

[@rosesimmons8169]

Same history… just realizing it now at 49 years old.

[@Bat_Boy]

Thank you for sharing! YOUR comment helped me. ❤

[@gessrinky9129]

I CRAVED my mother as a child and she was mostly indifferent to me. She would often leave us alone, with grandparents etc. I would smell her nightgown to smooth myself. I remember waking up at 1am and not finding her home and going absolutely hysterical..damn near mental breakdown screaming hysterical. Years later I still have this crave urge and she’s still indifferent to me. The best way to describe it is a hollow feeling..

[@BJ-mb2ug]

Well- that made me tear up. Just did inner-child work cuz the mom-craving reference made me recall issues. So sad. Best deal with this mess now that we are aware. *hugs*

[@wilczus222]

I hope this doesn't sound too weird, but reading this made me want to hug the little you.

[@fleetskipper1810]

You weren’t unworthy. She was unworthy.

[@Littlemushroomtree]

I'm so sorry you had to go through that and are still dealing with her indifference today. You didn't do anything to deserve her indifference. The problem is with her, not with you. You never were the problem.

[@truepeace3]

That made my heart hurt. 😢 I’m so sorry for your pain. Hollow feelings hurt deeply.

[@micheller3251]

My father's whole life was basically a movie in his head and he couldn't tolerate anything that would contradict it. Whenever I did something with him it felt like I had to agree with everything he was saying and I had to like everything he decided I needed to like... It all felt like a setup, like we were "playing" father-daughter. I hated it because the rest of the time he was either disinterested or very dismissive and irresponsible. It made me super aversed to "fake" situations and disingenuous relationships, but I also didn't know what true genuine connections felt like. I only started to actually connect with people after cutting him off, because there was finally place for real life and real emotions.

[@kayfitzgerald309]

same here,Michelle!

[@Anna-io5fs]

Same but my mother would always look to my siblings and I for validation and would get angry if we didn’t agree.

[@themysteriousdomainmoviepalace]

My dad was like that and also a sex energy vampire. When he died, I felt like I was freed from prison.

[@ebbyc1817]

Another comment that gives me hope. I feel so validated. "I only started to actually connect after cutting him off....because there was finally place for real life and and real emotions"

[@micheller3251]

@@ebbyc1817 glad you find hope from my words! I'm jumping in to remind you that those things don't happen overnight either. At some points it felt like there was no progress, it's ok to go through periods of discouragement. If it ever happens to you, take a break, relax, but don't give up. One day, years later, you'll wake up and realize you reached a point you never thought would come to reality, and you'll be proud of yourself for sticking to your (metaphorical) guns!

[@kirtidagautam6786]

If you decide to write a book, I will pre-order it. I am a post-graduate in clinical psychology and I have read a lot of self-help literature, but the way you get the problem and analyze it, and your command of the subject, are exceptional.

[@stackorlee6053]

Me too (about the book). I almost wish i was from a war-torn country so i could get the therapy from him

[@rewakaur7375]

I wish the same. 🥺

[@chellefell1331]

Here here!!!! I would also!

[@BJ-mb2ug]

Same. I’ll buy 2.

[@Mara_143]

I will pre order it too

[@cindymccafferty8346]

Avoidant dismissive lone wolf. Yup. I’ve learned not to trust or count on support from anyone but myself. Seems like relationships always have conditions and withholding of love. I had a cousin over for a sleepover when I was about 9. My dad came home drunk and beat up my mother. My cousin was terrified. She called her mother to come get her that night. The two moms laughed about how she was homesick. But we all knew what it was really about. I never tried to have any friends after that. Dad might come home drunk and embarrass us.

[@nitacollins3645]

my ex was da and he wrote a story about being resurrected from death by a witch then the witch betrays him.before we met. he then pushed me over yrs until I betrayed him by writing on Facebook about the oddness I was reaching out with brain fog. he then questioned me at length till I cold see it as a type of betrayal then severed contact. its as if he feared and made happen what his fear was.

[@kimberquirky]

My mom got drunk, yelled at me ( when I had a friend over for a sleepover), and my mom pulled down her pants squatted and peed on the floor! All while telling me it was my fault.😒🙄

[@loussis8584]

@kipberquirky Oh my goodness that must have been awful! 🥺 Both experiences must have been awful... I really can relate because I lost a friend who came sleeping at my house once, and that night there was a huge fight between my mother and my sister that included physical violence. I never really saw my friend again after that, or on rare occasions, because she avoided me...

[@greyladydamiana]

Even your aunt failed you by not taking you with her or calling the police. Laughing about homesickness says they were all in deep denial 😢

[@277fnkymnky]

It is very difficult growing up with a Narcissist. It effects your whole life

[@emisstudying]

It does

[@SarahSodaPop]

I started to self isolate very young and i felt exhausted all the time. I haven't felt close to another adult in a very long time. Im a people pleaser and I don't like asking for anything or accepting anything. I always feel like I owe or have to balance out the gesture. I can't speak up for myself assertively and I've been extremely passive aggressive or just avoidant of conflict depending on the person and situation. I allowed myself to be used and i put myself in it at times even. I was told things that adults should converse about and not a little girl. I feel like i wasn't able to ever be a little girl or that i deserved to be protected. I would feel afraid during parties that someone might come in my room thinking it was the bathroom and i could not dare say anything about it to anyone. I took care of a baby at age nine. There's so much i have held inside of me and i have literally felt like i was a bomb at times!

[@Retro_Disco]

My father didn't want children, his parents didn't want children, and my mother's parents didn't want children. No wonder they were so messed up.

[@sjennica]

Took me decades to realize how profoundly early attachment wounds have shaped every adult relationship I’ve had. My life changed once I started addressing and reparenting. It’s wild to observe outrageous narcissistic behavior in elderly parents, being able to identify and reject it, now.

[@akuasalaam490]

I'm in the same boat, and completely understand what you speak of! Wow!

[@steffaely]

How to do reparent? 😭 I find this extremely difficult. How do you parent yourself?

[@lori6156]

I definitely relate. I didn’t figure this out until shortly before my mom passed.

[@G2thesecondpower]

@@steffaely hey there are some good books out there about this. Understanding childhood CPTSD by Pete Walker is a good place to start.

[@juliasugarbaker3859]

Yes. Wild is the right word for it.

[@wonkygustav4457]

Much love to all those in the comment section, it’s so touching to feel I’m not alone in this, I wish you all peace of mind xxx

[@mrstoner2udude799]

❤

[@Red88Rex]

Wow I’m textbook dismissive avoidant. I’ve dated many people actually but can easily go years without a relationship with no desire. I am completely independent, and would never live with someone else because I need my safe space. I feel like I do make connections and am very empathetic, to a fault actually, but it’s so crucial to me to take care of myself. Dad was alcoholic who left me alone a lot as a kid and mother is like Joan Crawford movie type cruel. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@legitkami5895]

I feel you so much. It's a both weird but I can't remember ever missing anybody. There are things that I can't share with people out loud bc they will think I'm rude but... I don't miss them. I don't miss my friends, my family, my boyfriend. I could really go without them. Ofc I love them but I am fine without them. My mom is a school teacher for children and my dad is a truck driver, rarely home. Mom tough me how to be strong, independent and myself. She never tough me how to do romantic love tho. Every moment spent with people that is out of the plan and is not necessary is like a chore. I'm fine with meeting friends once a week or less. I have my plans and I feel bad that I don't really care if they are in them or not. They can tag a long if they want. I will be fine with and without them. I think it hurts people around me and hurts my bf, but I just don't know how to need him more in my life. And that's the truth, I like him, I want him, but I don't need him. I don't need all the attention and effort and I don't know how to receive it. I would rather be left alone and chill.

[@mammajamma4397]

I'm currently dismissive avoidant, but it's precisely because I've spent so much time and effort trying to acknowledge my own feelings and find my identity and boundaries, and I fight like hell to keep all of that now. If anyone tries to take even one centimeter of that away from me, they're gone.

[@rupertperiwinkle4477]

How do you behave in relationships?

[@mammajamma4397]

@@rupertperiwinkle4477 firstly, it takes me a VERY long time to choose to be in a relationship, I mean years. Because I need to feel like my personhood is safe in someone else's hands. If I feel that, I let myself be with that person and I love them as fully as I can.

[@the51project]

This is a cycle that must end. I had two narcissistic parents. It took until my 50's to realize my childhood was severely abnormal, and understand the psychological damage I had incurred in childhood, and walked forward with through life. Passed up on relationships that could have been good for me long-term, as I could not commit long-term, and also got involved with two other narcissists as partners. I walked away from my narcissistic family 4 years ago - wish I had done it 30 years earlier.

[@shanobat5484]

yes. from age 12 I knew I was damaged in some way my peers were not. a Narcissistic Psychopath father, a overburdened and over stressed neglectful mother.

[@mikathorpe2919]

It took me a long time to figure out, too. I thought something was broken in me my entire life, because that's how my parents made me feel all the time. Two out of three of my dad's kids ended up barely surviving drug addiction (my brother and I). That doesn't happen in a vacuum and it's not normal. Now my husband and I are both unlearning the toxicity our parents taught us and helping each other through it. His mother is a textbook narc, so now he can read her like a textbook. We decided that the buck stops with us so that our kids don't have to go through what we did. We love our kids unconditionally. That's how it should be. Our parents did not love us that way and it caused so much damage. It's like it gets passed down through generations too, but you have to make a choice to break the cycle. In a way I'm grateful even though I suffered, because it woke me up in a major way and led me to becoming a much, much stronger and happier person. It was a hard lesson to learn, though. It's never too late to break that vicious cycle, and now you can heal.

[@emmalouie1663]

I regret how much of my life I have spent being confused and wondering what was wrong with me. When I did go to see therapists as a young person they had no idea what was going on with me and also I didn't know how to articulate to them anyhow. It is very difficult of a young person to understand all of this stuff. I want to get perspective and distance to be further away from the problem and not trapped in it. It's sad though I wish my life had been on an organized track earlier in life. It goes without saying that emotionally messed up parents really don't give very good guidance.

[@the51project]

@@emmalouie1663 Yes, life would have been much smoother and more rewarding if we'd had the benefit of supportive and well-balanced parents. But we did not. Neither did they most probably. One can only get off the turning wheel of cause and effect.

[@Lenergyiskey358]

Yep. Me too. I tried not to do the same thing with my boy but guess what! I did. I definately broke many cycles but many slipped through the cracks 😢. I wish this stuff was more accessible when I was younger but was playing out my shit. My son has issues but knows he is loved and he's very self aware so theres that. The legacy of this crap is rampant in so, so many of us, our parents included. I'm glad this generation has access to all this information.

[@lililoladzinergrl5255]

Omg, Patrick! This has opened my eyes that I may be repeating the narcissistic behaviors my parent displayed when I was growing up without realizing it and my heart is breaking for my daughter right now. Thank you for your videos . Now to find a therapist that can help with this type of work 🥺

[@KA-mq4wj]

I lost my Dad at age 2 and was left with a self serving, hateful narcissistic mother. She never took me to therapy after the death of my beloved Father but rather mocked me waiting for my Dad at the window after he already died. She ruined our family. I was the neglected scapegoat child and had extreme separation anxiety from her because I thought she would leave me too. She’s 87 and still hateful and manipulative!

[@the_arrogance]

Wow, 87 years old and still a cvnt! I'm sorry 😢

[@monabarber2335]

I feel Your pain My Mom is 86 and Still as Evil , I am going no contact finally , and I’m 63 ! I’m so sorry for what your going through ! It’s such a shame your own mother Hates You , mine has tried Her whole miserable life to destroy my happiness! The Devil is a Liar !

[@bronzegoddess8709]

Dismissive avoidant is me to the letter. I grew up with a mother who I believe had Anti-Social Personality Disorder. She was terribly narcissistic. She was also physically disabled, and literally everything revolved around her. None of my needs were met, and I was made to feel selfish by her and others for needing anything or being overwhelmed. She was 100% an energy vampire, and since I was the only one around her, I had to deal with everything on my own. She's deceased now, but I often just feel empty and emotionally dead inside.

[@Squamata_Mama]

Wow I'm so sorry you had to deal with all of that growing up and still to this day the lasting effects. I hope you're in therapy or getting some other kind of support because you deserve to heal.

[@corinneharrison9113]

Sorry for your experience and I relate to you. I had to decide to not let her steal the rest of my life. I’m reinventing myself on MY terms and I’ve moved away from her so she can’t pee-shoot my goals, dreams, and achievements any longer. I’m much healthier and happier. XoC

[@unavoidablycanadian397]

☹️☹️☹️ that really sucks. It's like you never got your cup filled as a kid. There's a great book called running on empty. It helped me. I feel empty and emotionless at times. It will pass, they're just feelings.

[@bronzegoddess8709]

@@Squamata_Mama I am definitely in therapy. EMDR has been pretty helpful with processing pent up emotions, but I still have times when its hard to feel anything at all. I feel numb and tend to block out strong emotions - negative and posotive.

[@bronzegoddess8709]

@@ebbyc1817 Thank you. I love exercise and music, especially listening to music while exercising. Also being in nature. I've been trying to do "anger work" to help myself tap into the strong emotions that are usually pent up. Its helpful, but I still have a long way to go before I'm fully emotionally healthy.

[@ewitherell7205]

When you state, "Neglect is a personal message..." it really resonates with the way my sisters and I grew up. Often we were told, "everything was done for us" but it seems in retrospect nothing was...I mean, I'm still alive, so I must have been okay? But the message my parents sent was: you're second. I'm first. I get what I want and tell you I'm doing it all for you, when in fact, not much those were just words. Intentions and actions are separate things. I know this from my own journey, now alone after two marriage and three kids: I didn't intend for anything the way it happened, but it did. Thanks SO MUCH for this channel!!! My sisters and i listen to many of your videos and sing your praises!! I still haven't found a therapist (financial problems 🙃) where I live so I try the journal prompts and listen to videos to get clues on how to make progress myself, though I know I'm going to need a therapist!

[@Babka113]

Yeah I always say that I implicitly knew as a kid that if my mom had to choose between herself or me, she'd come first - always. I'm jealous that your sisters are in on the healing journey. Mine use dissociation to cope with the past.

[@andreakoroknai1071]

"Neglect is a personal message..."yes, it's so wild how I still sometimes intuitively think my family would have been good people if only I had been different, there's so much shame, bitterness, inferiority and therefore envy and rage associated with it, I'm working through it but it still often feels like I HAVE TO bend over backwards for people just to be acceptable, like my former partner, things did not go well and he treated me poorly but I still feel like I somehow owe him my time and it took the words of a sweet new friend (I've made quite a few friends lately, I never thought it possible in my mid-thirties) to make me come to my senses on the issue, he told me in no uncertain terms that I "shouldn't be so forgiving" and "someone who treated you like that is not your friend" and yet even just typing this out I feel a little like I'm overreacting, but it's lovely to have healthy friends though

[@prisonerohope6970]

@@andreakoroknai1071 💛💛💛

[@nunyabizness573]

I think the key word regarding intent is choices. In my unknowing relationship with a pornography addict, he was making all the choices (also, his grandfather molested him as a child). I would never intend or choose to have children with him if I knew then what I know now. Although my children are adults (estranged), if they could, they would (and have tried) continue a family pattern where everyone has choices except me.

[@prisonerohope6970]

@@nunyabizness573 Thank you for sharing that. 💛🌼🥲

[@RobertAlberti]

As an adopted person I was always told that my adoption was evidence that I was "wanted." However as an adult what I recognized that my parents wanted someone else, and those parts of me that did not match their preconceived image of me were NOT wanted.

[@mamachungus]

this is EXACTLY how i feel! i’m an adoptee as well and it makes my blood boil when people say “you’re lucky you were chosen!” - it’s bullshit. i wasn’t chosen, i was next in line.

[@GirlPower342]

@@mamachungusand as an adopted person there’s also the flipside of, but would I have been chosen if my parents had had their own biological children? I recently found out that my birth mom and adoptive mom have the same first name, so I feel someone at the agency thought it would be cute to take a baby from a Nancy and give her to a different Nancy. This cute idea meant that I got sent to a family where not only did I not fit in emotionally / creatively, but also couldn’t have looked more physically different from them, leading to lots of curious questions from strangers and my parents shutting down and getting mad bc it’s “none of their damn business.” My sister and I were forbidden to tell anyone we were adopted. They told me to just tell people that I have the coloring of my dead grandmother, which I did until recently, when I started questioning why it was my job to pretend to be their biological offspring when I’m not?? And why two people who hated each other and hated kids were approved to adopt is a whole other conversation!! 😅

[@vera9057]

Oh man I got myself a charcuterie board of narcissistic parenting styles. My parents made sure I got to tryout every single style. How sweet of them

[@ilovedogs938]

I must be dining at the same restaurant as you because I too got a taste of all styles. 😂

[@aspyn.j_]

Ugh I won’t even lie, every time I realize how messed up my attachment style is, I sincerely wonder how anyone could ever love me because Im always scared that I’m emotionally draining someone. Plus I’m always convinced that someone doesn’t really like me, it’s just a transactional thing and I’m clearly not in on what they want from me yet. I know it’s a bad thing to say/think but I’m sure we’ve all thought it at one point. I got a lot of work to do. Thanks for your videos.

[@ARA-ee9yr]

You sound like you‘d let people tell you their problems but won’t dare to share your own painful experiences. It‘s not easy for you either. Say you were that type of person in those situations, then you did more than enough. Even if you weren’t. You are alive, so this is enough. Your existence in itself is enough. I felt that I needed to say this ! You go :) sending love

[@saetae9208]

😢

[@acc6905]

Same

[@espenney6502]

💯 🎯

[@NatashaNavigating]

I can definitely identify with this but never knew why. It's starting to make sense.

[@emilysmith2965]

6:06 Dismissive Avoidant is absolutely the style I dealt with… it hurts SO much. It especially hurt to be a child who loved music, in a house that enforced quiet with an iron fist. Except from the parents, of course. They could do whatever they wanted. “That’s beautiful sweetie…” always ended with “but can you stop?”

[@juliea.6603]

Yes! "Cherish and enjoy having children" thank you for this beautiful statement, Patrick. They didn't make the choice to come here.

[@npcwizard5333]

I live with my parents. Currently it’s just my dad and yes I’d say he’s a stranger. My mom is the narcissist. When she’s around it’s difficult. I’m trapped but working hard to leave this house.

[@colleenclement474]

I was the same for 13 years. Equated it to a prison sentence. One piece if advice. Seek counseling. I wish I had myself and didn't until I was almost 30. Ten years gone. They go by quick and that stuff can stick w you. Find your people, they're out there.

[@meetulsharma06]

I can feel this in some ways. My father was non existent throughout my childhood and my mom was emotionally unstable. I mean she tried her best but in some ways her emotions always came first. Even tho i pushed myself to tell something to her, she'd just try to one up my problems with her problems. She also occasionally tried to say "but other people have it worse than us" which in turn made me feel guilty for feeling the emotions i was feeling. Due to all this, words hardly come out of my mouth and i choke up when i have to speak to people. Its hard but i am working on myself to leave the house too.

[@spacegirl226]

I'm in a similar situation. My narc ex-husband discarded me last year after 12 years of marriage, and I had to move back "home" to my toxic, narc family. My parents are divorced, have been for almost 20 years. I live with my mother and brother who are so completely and hopelessly enmeshed with each other that neither can function. Occasionally I go visit my father who left us, abandoned us and was never really there in my life growing up. I'm 40 years old, and I have nothing. I can't escape my family right now, but I'm desperate to because they're back to their old ways (that never changed) of sucking the life out of me. Healing from my ex-husband's abuse has been a lot easier because we're no contact and I don't live near him. But healing from my family's abuse is impossible because every day is a reminder that they are awful people who never loved me and treated me like a burden. I am completely and utterly alone. I completely understand how you feel trapped. Hang in there. You can get out, but it won't be easy and it won't happen overnight. Best of luck to you.

[@npcwizard5333]

@@spacegirl226 I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. I’m glad you have these videos to rely on for help and understanding. We’re gonna make it through this. The fact that we’re here on this channel is a testament to that. 💪 May Elohim bring you comfort. 🫂

[@ft.meganmccarthy8865]

My dad used to take me out for coffee to spend time together. We lived together, but every now and again we had little coffee meetings. We'd also have structured family meetings, and I remember having a meeting when I was 10 to calculate mine and my siblings allowance based on custody and age. I was neglected and shamed during the worst depressive episode of my life. I was suicidal, and cried for help plenty times, but ultimately I had to pull myself out of it on my own, and hold on for dear life until I was an adult. I shouldn't have had to do it on my own, and I definitely shouldn't have been isolated from friends after attempts. I grew up with a weird preoccupied, but occasionally dismissive style. When I ask for help and/or support, I usually have a good half hour shame attack about needing anything at all. I'm definitely getting better, but life could definitely be more fun lol

[@MsHazelie]

Your attachment style sounds like disorganized attachment, (it's mine) swinging between anxious and avoidant. Everything I've read about this style says it's the most difficult to treat-yeah. But looking at the bright side, maybe the swing between the two is just one's attempt to find balance and healthy attachment??

[@ft.meganmccarthy8865]

@@MsHazelie Fortunately, I've had a couple amazing, safe people in my life for a while, so I think that's really helped my healing. I'm still pretty avoidant with everyone outside my tiny circle, but not all is lost lol

[@Silky2687]

Totally relate to you. I remember when I slit my wrists and tried to kill myself I didn't tell anyone about it for weeks. I was having an argument with my dad one night and he was essentially telling me how I needed to try harder in school and do something with my life or I'm going to be a failure, telling me my depression was laziness because he'd been depressed before and pulled himself out of it. I pulled up my sleeves and said this is what you make me do, I tried to kill myself and you still think I'm just lying and lazy? He looked at me with contempt and got up and walked away. I'll never forget that day how I cried for help and he just fucking left. Never spoke about it again. He continued to torment me until my early 20s. I think I was 17 then. Still live at home unfortunately but I have a gf now and spend most of my time at her place. I say all of 50 words to him a week at this point. Keeps me sane. I am so emotionally numb and dead inside I feel bad for my gf because I can barely give her the attention she needs due to self-hatred, shame and discomfort with intimacy. Fuck our parents for the shit they did to us. My mom died when I was 11 so I basically feel like an orphan at this point. It destroys my soul to think that I will never be unconditionally loved.

[@ft.meganmccarthy8865]

@@Silky2687 It's super bittersweet to hear someone relate to that kind of thing. I'm sorry for what you've been through.. You've got this, and if you can move, you'll notice the difference immediately. It's hard to recover when you're still around that person, so try not to be too hard on yourself. You are loveable regardless of the intimacy issues, and whatever other flaws you think you have. Everyone deserves to be loved, and you deserve to love yourself. I relate so much, and yet I've found someone to love me and be patient with me. It's been 3 years (2 years living together) and I haven't pushed him away yet lol. I imagine your girlfriend thinks way more highly of you than you think. Best of luck to you!

[@Silky2687]

@@ft.meganmccarthy8865 Thank you for the kind words. I plan on going back to school next fall and moving out then so I look forward to that. It's nice to hear that you've been able to surround yourself with healthy and nurturing people. Wish you luck as well on your healing journey

[@ashleynoelle7429]

Every activity involving my mom was transactional. She always neede to be rewarded for doing bare-minimum. My dad never complained but let his partners tell him what to do but then if I had friction with his partner, he’d abandon me, attack me physically or catch me off guard with explosive screaming. What a shitshow.

[@PutriOddity]

I exhibit signs of all 3 of these, and it's usually on a situational basis. But I survived an overwhelming mother. Lots of physical and emotional abuse.

[@christinajackson3461]

Probably FA mostly?

[@zephyr3693]

Dismissive avoidant. I’ve always thought my attachment style is like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks. It falls off every time. That’s exactly what it feels like for me. Every time I search myself to see if I care about something or someone, it feels like a balloon deflating. I want it to happen but 95% of the time the spaghetti falls off the wall. The only exception is my husband and my cats. Everyone else is barely tolerated.

[@ThePathOfLeastResistanc]

I mean, you found a husband to love; that’s more than most of us.

[@nefarioussagittarius8906]

This sounds like me. I and my husband are also house humans - the cats actually run everything,

[@ARA-ee9yr]

Hey, you don’t need a million people. It sounds like you have your own little family. Bless that :)

[@jeanabrams8802]

I feel like I could have written that. Including the cats!

[@Auntkekebaby]

I know all about this.

[@rhighan4357]

Between my mother and father we covered every sicko trait you can have. Sucks being an only child to have no one to confirm yes it is not you. Thank you for this!

[@janwisz4070]

Dear friend, It’s not you ❤

[@rayn7713]

Your opinion of you is what matters & the most important. Getting to that place takes time. You deserve to be kind to you. Blessings ❤

[@ilovedogs938]

I'm the same, only child also.

[@rebeccachambers419]

I see myself, mostly, in the anxious preoccupied area. It’s crazy when I look back and see how I am ALWAYS the caregiver. When first meeting someone, I sort of hang back to see what they need. It’s no wonder I chose a caregiving profession. While sitting here reflecting on how I relate to everyone this way, I can’t come up with another way to relate. I feel like this sounds ridiculous, but I really don’t know how else to be. I’ll listen to your KZbin videos on innerchild work. Thanks so much for this video. By the way, I have trouble allowing others to help me also.

[@shanobat5484]

the CrappyChildhoodFairy videos on YT are great

[@erin9243]

Check out the personal development school channel

[@LadybugLuvblahblah]

I so relate to this!

[@Gokimbo9]

I relate to this as well!

[@lizl1407]

I really struggled to imagine a day with my parents, they were always so unpredictable I never knew what to expect. They could ignore me completely, or blow up in rage, or get buddy-buddy with me over some juicy gossip, or some combination of all of them. Can "disassociation" be an attachment style? Acting as if other people (and even yourself) are not really real. Once I started to heal my disassociation my style became more anxious preoccupied.

[@vlogcity1111]

Wow I felt the same way growing up so confused not knowing it’s it’s going to be abuse or neglect or rage. I am more preoccupied and disassociated if that would describe my attachment style

[@vlogcity1111]

Due to being neglected for a solid 10 years i think being preoccupied is my default because I had to create my own stimulation as a child. Now I don’t know how to turn that off and socialize a “normal” amount. I never was spoken to very much growing up.

[@Ash-vu1et]

I think disassociation and dissociation are more a result/symptom of having experienced trauma rather than being an attachment style in and of itself, but I’m not sure. I definitely relate to what you said, though; I still struggle with dissociation on a near daily basis myself, but I think that once you begin to heal from your trauma, it becomes less prevalent. Dissociation due to trauma is (if I’m remembering correctly) sort of a leftover coping mechanism from childhood. Children have no way to escape from the situation they’re in, and the stress is too much for them to handle, so their brains react by detaching them from the situation. The resulting distance allows a child to weather their experiences without being fully “present” for everything that’s happening, because the situation is too stressful or overwhelming for the child to fully come to terms with. Since we learn it in childhood (even if we’re unaware it’s happening), it carries over into adulthood and we continue to use it as a coping mechanism to navigate toxic relationships and stressful life events. That’s just my two cents, but I’m glad you’re healing from your disassociation! I think that’s a good sign that you’re well on your way toward healing your attachment style too 👍

[@jilloneill1452]

my parents, especially my dad on every other weekend visits, you just described to a "T." great comment, ty!😀

[@antoniotolentino8108]

My mom was like this very unpredictable it terrified me as a kid. She could be screaming at me, or everything is fine or she would act like she doesn't care to get a rise out of me.

[@TofuTeo]

This makes me feel seen and validated on so many levels. It’s encouraging to know that there are helpers out there who really get it. Thank you, Patrick!

[@msjrenee8146]

As a child, I’d say my needs were met but I was basically ignored. Once in a while my mom would pay attention to me and do something special with me. I didn’t have a dad in the picture. On a daily basis, I just went along taking care of myself and living in my own little world. I never knew what my mom was up to. Except when she went to work. Otherwise, I never really knew what she did. I suppose that all maybe caused dismissive avoidant with me…because I have a hard time in relationships, with affection, with feeling like my peaceful space is invaded. Kinda sad- Thank you for the enlightenment.

[@jerirasulo9543]

Me too, I was totally ignored by my mother and my father wasn't allowed by her to show any emotions. Relationships feel the same to me as yours,, almost an imposition on my time and me! And they generate an overload of emotions, sometimes minute by minute that leave me tired. Plus, I can't really bond anyway, so there is almost no point in relationships. I've had many ok friendships, ONLY bc of the harmony of beliefs in my religion, Jehovah's Witnesses and bc they are so, so forgiving with my severe lack of emotional skills and my oddball responses to their affections towards me. Other than that I wouldn't know what even a friendship was nevermind a male/female relationship. And I'm 65 and hardly have developed real emotions, sad. Ty for your comment.

[@angelakh4147]

When you talked about the narc parent becoming depressed over the child getting a “C,” it took me back to third grade. We lived w/my mom’s parents, and she would take me for a drive to abuse me openly so they wouldn’t interfere. I had made my first “C” on a report card. She cried and yelled, “How could you do this to me?!” The irony? It wasn’t my “C.” Teacher had made a mistake. I don’t remember mom’s apology (she said sarcastically).

[@gravity00x]

Welcome to hell. Already as a child I was different than the rest (just recently at 33 diagnosed with severe adhd, mostly due to my own interest in why I am like I am and why my life is this ratrace that im trying to escape over and over again) My parents used to beat me up and chase me around the house when they found out I was transfered to a lower class school because I'd rather doodle on the table than pay attention in class. I still remember laying on the floor as my mother beat me with a belt and I didn't understand anything. Getting abused for who you are, when you havent hurt anyone, or done anything remotely wrong, man, I cannot describe the feeling. Obviously this wasn't the only time of physical abuse like that, there were hundreds other times, where my mother would beat us so severely, just to treat to our wounds afterwards. But that one holds significant sentiment for me, because I was sick and needed help, instead all hell rained down on me all because I was different and my parents were too narcissistic too care or understand. And yes! They never. apologise. never. not once. The times they do, you know its either their guilt or desire for somethingn speaking, because afterwards they go do it again and again. Did your parents ever change? And do you still keep contact with them?

[@fluffydragonslayer3688]

man i cant count how many times ive asked role models (teachers, aunts and uncles and stuff) "okay,,, but are you mad at me though? like just making sure i didnt do anything wrong."

[@christinajackson3461]

I was too scared to ask and just always seemed to assume they were all mad at me or just tolerating me at best. I've only come to see it six months ago.

[@brightphoebus]

A day with my Dad back in childhood would have been scary, because one had to always please him and it was a very fine line to walk, if one could do it at all, one did well if one could do it for most of the outing. Basically, be sweet, and don't have an opinion, and be pleased with whatever he does for you. You need to be obedient, compliant, and pleasant. He had an ego, but it was fragile. He needed to keep us down, to stay on top. And if you displeased him, or told him something he didn't want to know, boy you'd know about it. Even months later. The love tap was not just turned off, it was turned inside out. He would suck any good feeling you had out of you, in punishment. Make you cry to make himself feel stronger. I was trapped, in needing to please him, and not being able. No wonder I'm a mushed shell of a person, and he disliked me even more for that.

[@cfletcher1030]

“He needed to keep us down to stay on top.” Regrettably this sounds very familiar to me. My dad was an authoritarian dictator and my mom was his spy. I find the idea of a day alone with either of my parents incredibly uncomfortable.

[@chrisalmendra4370]

"be sweet, and don't have an opinion" & "if you told him something he didn't want to know..." ring so familiar

[@shanobat5484]

#CrappyChildhoodFairy on youtube

[@shanobat5484]

mine a narcissistic psychopath. Never alone with him, terrified of him

[@meganbaker9116]

@@cfletcher1030 Don’t spend time with them! It keeps you stuck and they don’t deserve your company. When I cut my family off it was incredibly empowering. Wish I’d done it when I was 18.

[@rebeccadolashewich7094]

I would love a talk on being the black sheep of a dysfunctional family system and how that leads to patterning being the scapegoat role again & again in different groups. I’m realizing my old behaviors before therapy did set me up to be around groups that had the same types of personality disorders in them, people that felt familiar - familial. I’ve basically been trying to reparent myself along with becoming a mother. I’ve been in therapy on & off since becoming a mother, to help understand the insanity I was raised in. I’m so grateful that I am the type who did seek out help and open up my own life to be able to be helped. As the scapegoat, we are raised to always take all the blame & it’s been a lifetime of not getting anyone to actually apologize when they are cruel to me. It’s been getting so much better the last decade and I had to go no contact five years ago. To seek help and assistance outside of my abusive family was seen as the work of the devil, because I got out of a family where my parents were the youth pastors growing up, in a fundamentalist evangelical cult. Being the scapegoat was also mixed into the spiritual realm of such extremes that the last time I saw my mother she tried to speak in tongues, rebuke me in the name of Jesus, & she hit me in front of my husband & my sons. I was 39. It’s very hard to process the spiritual abuse that goes with the abuse I suffered, because it’s such an added terror to add such extremism to the already hard to process physical & emotional abuse.

[@wendymoran6759]

I can't even imagine! I wish I could give you the biggest hug.

[@KTcov]

I’m also the black sheep of my family the scapegoat. My mother also hides behind her Christian beliefs. It’s all fake, she’s 2 very different people one with her children and a different person around her church friends. She’s physically abusive still to my 40 year old sister and last week called me cunt for calling her out on her abuse. I told her I would one day film her behaviour and send to her pastor. She had a meltdown it was like watching a 2 year old having a tantrum. Stomping here feet and banging her fists on the wall while calling me the most disgusting names!

[@shirleyann245]

Yes, Rebecca I can also identify with being a black sheep of my parents and brother. It hurts so bad, but it’s better to just not be around them. Even though now they just make up lies about me and try to keep me away from the rest of the family so I will be dismissed. Even try to pull my kids away too. They are NPD. And have a mask on in front of people but whenever the mask comes off, you better run. They can just cause so much fake drama that I have so called caused. So that’s the best thing to do is stay away. I have had to isolate for along time though, sometimes wondering when will it end? My mom forced us to go to a cult church which was so devastating and neglectful. There wet no celebrations and for a kid going to school and not allowed to celebrate anything was devastating. I believe parents should at least look back and see their mistakes and say they are sorry. All my dad said was he feels he did a very good job raising me. (Wow, sexual molestation was and is still denied!)😢

[@theresistance3818]

I love my parents but it's always MY reality vs. THEIR realities and they REFUSE to ever look at situations, through any other lenses but their own. Dealing with this is EXHAUSTING, dangerous and just recently, almost cost me my life, as I have been very ill for a while and when I would tell them, "I don't feel well" they would repeatedly brush me off and say, "you're fine, you don't know what it is to be REALLY sick." Fast forward, to the present, where, I recently had emergency surgery and the doctors' found numerous other health issues which need immediate attention and was told that, "I am lucky to be alive." #ThanxFam

[@dawnf.2182]

So very sorry. ❤

[@areuarealman7269]

I like the thnx fam but yeah that's a really yuck feeling I almost died well you just weren't dying like I was .Like what yeah my bear has a big gun and a truck and then jumped over my house ....

[@TexanWineAunt]

Of all the mental health content providers, this Patrick Teahan is the one that seems as if he himself is consistently in a healthy place emotionally during the video.

[@nathaliedufour3891]

My mother was a malignant narc, my brother the golden child, my father sacrificed me to save himself, I have never recovered, I 'm 59 , thank you very much

[@maeri6040]

I feel like having such a strong relationship with animals all of my life has really helped me in so many ways. Showing affection, caring for another creature selflessly, unconditional love. I learned early that I couldn’t experience these things from the ones who should them, but I found them from in the end P.S. fearful avoidance is a hell of a drug

[@storydates]

I'm glad you brought up cycling through different attachment styles---I definitely do that, and have likewise been more anxious preoccupied in less healthy relationships (or just in less personal / close relationships) but more fearful avoidant or dismissive avoidant in healthier, close relationships. You kind of mention this at the end, but I wonder if it's because the first priority is to have some kind of consistent love and affection (so trying to achieve that with anxious preoccupation), but in a relationship where that love and affection is consistent, it's almost too much to deal with or it feels uncomfortable and foreign (so avoidance comes up).

[@ebbyc1817]

I find I'm anxious with people I feel inferior to. And avoidant with people I feel superior to. Not so much, better than, or they're better than me, but more like, a perceived shortcoming. Like if someone has lots of really good friendships, and no drama in their life, I'm going to feel anxious with them, because I know they have better coping strategies. But if someone is more manipulative, doesn't state their needs, hides behind masks, I'm going to be more avoidant, not just because it's harder but because of the shortcoming. I'll see it as having bad coping strategies in relation to me.. It's like, trying to have a relationship with a child versus, trying to have a relationship with an elder. Hope this helps. Although another thought I just had, which is why I'm editing this, is maybe I know the likelihood of abandonment with someone with bad coping strategies, is much higher. So I'm more avoidant with them because I know it's going to end sooner or later.

[@corinneharrison9113]

@@ebbyc1817 exactly

[@mrslvw]

But it's not cycling- that's classic fearful avoidant! A bad relationship (with insecure attachments) will make a fearful avoidant lean anxious bc have to cling to keep relationship going. Whereas a good relationship (with security) will make the fearful avoidant "deactivate" bc hard to accept as if the relationship is "too good to be true" so they pull back in defense. That said attachment styles can change as one works on themselves and often if their partner is secure so not all hope is lost. The book Attached by Amir Levine and Rachel Heller is awesome for diving into this. However they don't have much on fearful avoidants so to really dig deep Tahis Gibson at the channel "The Personal Development School" is my fave!

[@ebbyc1817]

@@mrslvw Thanks for the tips. I've read the book (Before I even knew what attachment really was). I think what you described about fearful avoidant makes sense. At least it helped me make sense of someone I know. He's more avoidant with his partner, who is anxious, according to him, but more anxious with me. Well, avoidant, then anxious. Like he'll try to be avoidant, and then after a while if it doesn't work, he'll become anxious. Like not call after a fight, or any kind of disagreement, and then after a while, if there's been no communication, he'll start calling all the time like he's freaking out. It's really stressful. Because you can't resolve the conflict, and you can't move on. I don't know how they find partners.

[@mrslvw]

@@ebbyc1817 wow sounds like a fun one:/ I'm still figuring it all out myself bc it does get so complicated

[@MoonWomanStudios]

Dismissive avoidant. I feel like I just got a huge piece of the puzzle 😳😥

[@PuntedKitten]

It's a big one. Have you heard of Complex PTSD? It's another big part. There's a book by Pete Walker about it, and he's been on a few podcasts that you can listen to for free. The Being Human podcast has both him and Gordon Neufeld who I also recommend.

[@MoonWomanStudios]

@@PuntedKitten I have, thank you and I'll check out Pete Walker and Gordon Neufeld!

[@277fnkymnky]

My mother couldn’t even say I love you on her death bed. She said I always wanted to be rid of you. I was the one growing up that knew something was horribly wrong with her as a little girl I didn’t have a name for it. I would challenge her at every turn. She would say things that were ridiculous. I would tell my Dad when he got home. And she called me the liar. Dad would know how to calm her down. I would call her out. Not a good thing to do that’s for sure.

[@jessicabyland2879]

Same here, 277fnkymnky. You weren't alone in your experiences and your actions were rather mature and unfortunately bourne by a defensive position you never consented to.

[@PuntedKitten]

You detected something was deeply wrong, and your father didn't validate that experience. It's not exactly gaslighting, but it makes you question your reality and whether you can trust both of them. Was it a wise thing to do? I'm not sure, but you were honoring the truth, whereas your father sounds like he was burying it or being in denial.

[@kiwiluv9188]

I was also the child who called out the parent. I suppose that’s why I was the “scapegoat” while my sibling flew under the radar as the “lost child”. We were both emotionally neglected but I was emotionally and physically abused as well. It might sound weird but I wouldn’t change that. It made it easier for me to seek help as an adult because abuse is a lot easier to identify than neglect. My sibling would probably say there was nothing wrong with our childhood, even though she’s emotionally shutdown and lives a life of quiet desperation.

[@ebbyc1817]

I clutched my heart at the second line of your comment. Omygosh. So sorry.

[@PuntedKitten]

@@kiwiluv9188 You could point her in the direction of Pete Walker. He's done an excellent job of explaining Complex Trauma and how it hides best within people who weren't physically abused. The Being Human podcast has him on it, it's worth a listen.

[@artisanhillfarm5053]

I love the container you create by including yourself and your own examples in the discussion. It doesn’t feel like a therapist discussing case studies, although those are also very helpful. Here I feel like I’m in a support group. A peer group. And that we have a guest speaker, one of us who is an expert on the subject, inspired by his own experience, as opposed to a decision made in college for perhaps different reasons. This style on your channel really resonates for me. Thank you for this.

[@lindygrrl658]

I literally cried every day of preschool kindergarten and first grade...they called me emotionally dysfunctional, and left it at that like I was a bad puppy(get rid of it and on to the next one) would have only taken a little bit of validation back then...30 years later it ain't that easy🤪🤪🤪

[@peculiarstar5778]

i'm honestly stunned. i've never understood myself better than i do now, because you spelled it all out so clearly.

[@down-to-earth-mystery-school]

I have a securely attached fiance' and I'm so glad he didn't experience some of the crazy things I did.

[@ChronoTango]

I’ve formed a nervous habit of constantly checking other people’s work over the way my dad would go absolutely insane over little problems. “It’s a little thing, but it’s a big thing.” He’d say that all the time, especially about the little things we’d mess up. He’d say that in a way to be dismissive of us, but in a way that made it our fault we don’t do things certain ways rather than him trying to teach us. “It’s alright, I just know now that I can’t trust you to do that now.”

[@salenakeyes300]

This hit home on so many levels. Fearful avoidant here and also a narcissist parent. To a 4 and 6 year old that are avoidant preoccupied and also fearful avoidant 😭 Currently feeling quite helpless as to how I heal my past childhood trauma while simultaneously helping curve theirs. I know from here on out things will be different. I can't and won't go back to how I have parented but fear the damage is done and am floundering at how to undo it.

[@janalu4067]

You can give them what they dream of: a loving parent who makes them feel like they are wanted, cared for and treasured. Sounds like a good deal to me 🥰❤️

[@dartarro21]

Find ways to connect with them and validate their feelings. If they are unable to articulate their emotions, help them learn what each one feels like. Spend quality time with them and ask them a lot of questions about their interests and love languages. Get comfortable talking about your own feelings and being honest with them and giving them a lot of physical affection.

[@theladyamalthea]

You CAN do it! I didn’t figure this stuff out until my kids were all in their teens, and I’m just so thankful they still lived at home so I could live an apology to each of them. You have SO much more time than that! Educate yourself as much as you can on how to be emotionally healthy and validating. Figure out what your triggers are and how you can cope with them. Watch more of Patrick’s videos! Huge hugs! ❤️❤️

[@lollylula6399]

Jonice Webb has got some great books about helping yourself with attachment issues and how to help your children 🙌🏼

[@MsGenXodus]

I haven't seen videos on this subject, but when one does a family cut off, it's a bit like being excommunicated. I'd recommend having somewhere else to go BEFORE you cut off your family to insure that the cut off isn't just temporary. Being prepared for the crushing isolation that happens once the relief of getting away from your abuser wears off (and it does wear off, sometimes very quickly) once you've done a family cut off can really catch a person off guard. I suspect this is part of the reason why abused spouses return: it's the devil they know. Patrick, would you be willing talk about preparing for a family cut off? It seems simple in theory, but those of us who have anxiously preoccupied attachments, it's amazingly difficult to learn to hold those boundaries.

[@ketherwhale6126]

It’s so sad that most of all your life problems stem from the attachment and on going reinforcement of the initial attachment disorder. It’s great we know what happened but very sad that there’s not much we can do late in life about that.

[@lisettem1891]

Things always “felt” off but were dismissed and ridiculed. You have described my parents in a nutshell, now to start believing in myself again. Thank you so much Patrick, your videos are so incredibly helpful and uplifting.

[@kristinmeyer489]

I had two narcissistic parents too. Its twisted, but because they traveled so much, and the woman they hired to live with us while they were gone wasn't a narcissist, I honestly believe we were spared quite a bit. Twisted that we were spared by their absence. I'm grateful for the people who were around us as kids, as well as for how the world was truly a much different place back then. The world has become a mean place because of the internet, which thankfully didn't exist when we were young.

[@emmalouie1663]

The world does seem worse. Well I think it is economically worse. It's said that current generations are doing worse financially than past generations. Even though people have trinkets they don't have real wealth and possibly more moving for jobs. Now jobs change all the time.

[@vm994]

I think it's totally fair to say you were spared by being left with a healthier caregiver. I sometimes think this too because my mother had debilitating depression & religious fanaticism when I was young so was always sleeping on the couch or praying ( not present) while my father was a threatening tyrant. It wasn't until my mom somewhat "recovered" and left my father in my teens that I got to see how narcissistic and cruel a parent she actually was.

[@wendywoo7031]

I was fed, never went hungry, given good meals and not frozen TV dinners or junk food, we lived in relative comfort after starting in some pretty awful council housing (social housing for my friends across the pond) when I was a baby / toddler. But I don't remember being hugged or told I was loved. Dad was the disciplinarian who was more concerned with work than with just being with my brother and me. It was a well known thing that he could come home in a bad mood and that we were to not give him anything to be angry about. Dinners were often tense and quiet. I have vivid memories of being told off for some wrongdoing, standing in dad's study while he continued to do his paperwork. Then when he was finished telling me off, his favourite saying was 'get out of my sight' as a way of dismissing us from the 'meeting'. Then would start the ignoring. It could be an hour, 1 day, 2 days.... we never knew how long it would take. We kept our heads down and just got on with it. Tears were weakness, being ill was weakness. Making mistakes was weakness. So yeah, I haven't had great relationships, it's no mystery! I can be all of those attachment styles, but dismissive avoidant probably the most. It's safer. It's how I coped with the atmosphere growing up. Sadly, it's difficult to shake it and understanding its roots doesn't necessarily help shift it, especially with the chances of meeting people who are just as bad as my dad. Nope. Trust is not high on my list of things that I do!

[@taylorsabd]

1) neglect (wittholding needs- physical, mental OR emotional) is abuse 2) the silent treatment is a form of neglect (wittholding affection) and is abuse I realized these concepts recently and it changed my understanding of what happened to me. Dysfunctional behaviors are minimized in these types of homes, that's how the behavior continues, so eventually we minimize them too and don't see the behavior for what it is.

[@amariedorsey]

Allowing myself to imagine spending a day with either of my parents engendered an split-second gut-focused fear. I'm startled to realize that at age 67, after years of counseling and reading and emotional work and independence and death of both parents, I'm still impacted by those earliest relationships. And a failure to measure up.

[@peacerun]

Well now I know why nobody ever “broke up” with me - I make sure to do it first!! Dismissive Avoidant. Never knew that.

[@charlie-jd3ls]

you really have such a calming personality and aura, it's very hard for me to watch these videos in fear of becoming more depressed and angry. but you make it easier to let go of some burdens i feel.

[@tiptopdadddy]

Being discarded by a dismissive avoidant makes so much more sense now. The lies by omission, the performative/transactional “affection”, lack of validation and all the things I didn’t want to admit that ultimately led to betrayal and silence. Never again, thank you for the insight.

[@annecyle]

My mother was jealous of me. She would say sick things like “your father loves you more than your brother and sister when we were alone. She never hugged me or said i love you or comforted me when I was sick. I lived for my dads approval who was absent with work most the time. As an adult I thought I could do no wrong in his eyes but in reality I could do no wrong only because I lived to please him… Fast forward after years of being the person he wanted me to be, after being there for him my entire life including helping him thru my mom’s lengthy illness he Discarded me. He met a woman in a meet up group who I later learned was a pretend nurse and has a very disturbing past. She has lied to him over and over and I tried to protect him but I was the voice of truth he refused to hear and he became very abusive with his narcissistic rages.. He still contacts me when he needs something. He will contact my husband when he needs help with something at his house but otherwise he avoids me and resents me.. I think the turning point for me in accepting that he is not capable of loving me is when I exposed one of her major lies and he went into a narcissistic rage and told me he Didn’t need a relationship with me and that I was a terrible person. And here I sit grieving a father who could never say I love you..and a lifelong relationship that was only an illusion..

[@mkayokay3192]

I did everything to try to win his love. I even went to law school so I could work with him. But in the end I was discarded. One day he finally told me how stupid he thinks I am enough times for me to really hear it. It’s like I woke up. I said “dad, you don’t know me and you don’t want to know me. And that’s what really hurts” That was the beginning of my pain. It’s been 7 months. I lived so long thinking that my mother kept us from being close but she died (like you I was very wrapped up in helping with the illness and passing). Over the next 2 years I found out the real truth- our “relationship” was an illusion and he’s never going to love me. I just have to get over it- but I never will. The whole terrible dynamic with mom dad and me has crippled me in real ways. I just can’t help thinking the whole sorry mess could have been redeemed in some way if he had just connected with me in a real way ….. ever. It’s such a strange thing to live with 2 parents but also totally completely utterly alone. Now I have children and I’m absolutely paranoid that I’m damaging them in some way I cannot detect.

[@ambersontheduck]

It's so hard when we try and protect them and they treat us as "bad children" 😭

[@melissad.6722]

My sister and I have been very enmeshed with our mom since my dad left in 1973 and she made me her emotional partner and my older sister she parentified. I was the emotional substitute for her partner and my sister was the doer/care taker partner for her. i have looked at all of this long and hard over the past few years. i have struggled with fear, anxiety, depression, avoidance tendencies and learned helplessness all my life ( I am 52 now) which has lead me into all sorts of bad relationships and situations. In just the past 48 hours I've begun while looking again at one area of my life I have almost phobic reactions, to wonder "is this fear and anxiety and hopelessness and dread really mine or is it my mother's which I picked up, absorbed when I was young?" i am very strong and determined in most areas of my life so being stuck for decades in one area has perplexed me for so long. i was a highly sensitive child always reading the room for peoples vibes and moods and my mom had many mental health issues going on. I cant find anything on the internet or youtube about this type of thing, "carrying" your unhealthy parents stuff from childhood. Maybe its a part of differentiation??? I do almost feel if I "put down" the fears and anxieties and negativity of my mom's I will somehow be losing her even though she is still living and we are close and she is the same now as ever. Does this make sense? Is there work out there about this? Is this a core beliefs thing? I've been living with the core beliefs I observed and absorbed from my mom growing up and now I need to supplant with my own?

[@montecarlo1651]

Hello Melissa, your comment struck a chord with me. My mother, likely a psychopathic narcissist, was an emotional vampire to me when I was young, in part by making me her mini-me. By that I mean she did not differentiate between herself and me and used me to bolster and meet her emotional needs. As a little child, she was very loving towards me and arguably this saved me. Once I hit about 10 and started to become myself, that is when all the trouble really started. I was enlisted into my parent's marital problems and became, unwillingly, the honest broker and diplomat, essentially their translator (dad = rational, mum = emotional). It was extremely stressful and gave me lasting personality traits such as never feeling safe, hyper vigilance and so on. I put a stop to her vampirism when I was 16 and learned to manage her by rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad behaviour (by using my contact with her, something she craved). You can see from my language that I ended up as the parent in the relationship, something that only eased as she aged. I used to describe my experiences of her emotional inroads into me as like an invading army conquering an unarmed country: she just marched in causing chaos and mayhem and occupied the territory. This might better fit me than you for my mother was very aggressive. Learning to build the walls to keep her from doing this and feeding on me took a long time but 16 was the turning point. Shockingly, the last time I saw her alive she actually asked me to let me allow her to do this to me one more time! I was horrified that she had such audacity, not least as it clearly demonstrated that what she had done all those years ago, she knew what she was doing and had done it deliberately. Not only did I give her short shrift, I gave her a piece of my mind into the bargain and so our last contact was acrimonious and bitter. I am just a little older than you and have spent a lifetime unravelling the mischief from these depradations and related behaviours, like so many in these comments. I think this emotional colonisation or vampirism is particularly insidious as it creates confusion and difficulties with boundaries, both of which might help explain your fear and anxiety concerns. A lot of our ideas around emotional pleasure have their roots in our maternal relationship and if we think that requires no boundaries to reproduce then we are inviting chaos and mayhem into our lives all over again. That is just one side effect! My brother was also assigned a role in the dynamic and my mother was brazen enough to verbalise it by assigning him to our father (she obviously claimed me for herself). The divisions that this created are probably self evident, they were also permanent and played out across the extended family. In relation to your comment about carrying your parent's concerns inside yourself, you could be right. My instinct is however that the confusion this blurring of boundaries creates is really at the heart of the issue. My mother made be feel like I was nothing, I was a tool for her ends. I learned to discount myself to not even see myself, only to see the tasks and roles she set out for me. In such a situation, coming to even identify my own feelings and needs (let alone trying to meet any of them!), is very difficult indeed. Having your self hijacked by your mother didn't erase you, even if it may have made you the pack mule for her burdens. I strongly believe you can separate her from you and reclaim yourself. Best wishes in the journey.

[@user-ey4rc5tu4t]

Interesting. As the first and only child for the first 6 years of my life, I became furious with my parents for actively choosing to bring my younger sister into the world and then dumping her on me to raise. I felt like since they made a “choice” to have her, they should have actually parented her.

[@chubbypanda3398]

Same here ,we are not here to do their parenting and raise our siblings,we didn't decide to have them and there is a boundary.

[@healingandgrowth-infp4677]

I was 11 years old when this started

[@letsreadtextbook1687]

That is objectively correct

[@justthetruth3950]

Same, I have a lot of resentment because of that

[@cocoasamone]

@@chubbypanda3398 I think I may be too far entrenched but how do you set a healthy boundary and not have your sibling suffer?

[@christinelamb1167]

Wow, burdened by being a parent, that describes my mother perfectly! I was made to feel that I was a burden just for existing, and especially because she had to be my parent. After many years of therapy where NPD was never mentioned, I finally learned about narcissistic abuse. I recognized my mother instantly, and the pieces of the puzzle finally came together! I know what happened and why I feel and operate the way I do, but I still can't seem to move out of my "stuckness", as the same tapes keep playing in my mind constantly. To complicate matters even more, I believe that I am ASD, but I haven't been able to get tested and diagnosed yet. I can see myself in all 3 of the attachment styles, I guess I'm just a bit of everything. But that could be because of the ASD, and the difficulties that I have in relating to the world due to being aneurotypical.

[@augustvincent]

“an anxious preoccupied person might give me a lot of power that i DONT WANT” the way this exactly summarized my pattern in relationships omg

[@lightshinesthroughthecrack4952]

These videos are a godsend for so many. You don't have to make them but you do. I thank you sincerely from here in Edinburgh ⭐

[@ranc1977]

These attachment styles concept were mysterious to me, and information available about them was fuzzy and unclear. This video makes sense and makes it very clear and easy to understand it. Thank you Love this: "Neglect is personal message that we're not lovable, that we're not ok, we're not doing something right and we have to find some secret code to get the parent to engage. Which is origin of codependency."

[@Megan6772]

So so good. Thank you so much. I get triggered by my ultra sweet and ultra reassuring bf. It sucks because I don't wanna push him away but I literally can't help myself sometimes 🥺

[@ginettegrenier9806]

I found this video very enlightning. My mother is the narcissistic immature one who used me for emotional support and parentified me. My father was the alcoholic narcissist that critisized and punissez, shamed any emotions of anger, sadness! I becamd his confidante, therapist, once mh parents divorced at sge 10. I am the anxious preoccupied style. It sure makes me understand my patterns and the work needed for my inner child to heal. Thank you !

[@sadie9386]

Today I realised that the way my mother attached to me is the way she attached to her own mother. Attachment means 'how you get your needs met' with all human needs being the same. My mother manipulates me, lies, sees herself as a victim, rages and loathes by turns. I now attach to my own children and all other things in an avoidant manner.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

I’m a neurodivergent (ADHD and a bit of dyslexia and dyscalculia ) FA who leans DA (as Thais Gibson says) and you were spot on about the brand of threatening, dismissive, explosive, mind-fucking, violent narcissist parents who create that attachment style. I dare to say that my experiences were much worse than the average narcissistically abused child because I have never, and still can’t at 24, make any friends. I was always entirely and completely alone, trying my absolute hardest to find someone to believe in, who could also believe in me, and always failed. And my parents would always say that if they were ever the problem then I would be able to make friends at school, but no one likes me anywhere which means that I am the problem and the party than can only be perpetually wrong as is to blame for everything. I now know it’s because I’m neurodivergent, but before I thought it was because I really was a worthless thing that should’ve never been born like they told me, and how I still gad to work on myself in order to be liked. No matter what I do, I will always be seen and treated as an alien who can and will be betrayed and disposed of the second I become a burden who isn’t entertaining them anymore. People always think that I’m lying or pretending or playing a character, and not genuinely and naturally this bizarre, visceral, and simultaneously overwhelmed and overwhelming, very raw and very sophisticated. I’ve also always been ill, I have a bunch of chronic things. The cross I bare is back-breaking, and not even entirely figuratively - I have scoliosis and partial spinal degradation. After a literal lifetime of self- healing, and 3 years of narcissistic abuse healing, I’ve finally been able to start dating last year at 23. I’m a lot less pessimistic and a lot more successful when it comes to men than I am with friends. I’ve put in an excruciating amount of work in order to make it that way.

[@Accidental_Warrior]

Keep going. I'm like you. I can't make friends and am neurodivergent and just turned 31. Only men my fathers age want to date me 🤮 No friends, no family no boyfriend is really starting to get to me. You're okay you still have loads of time.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

@@Accidental_Warrior older men love me too! Lol. And I love them back. They are my absolute favorite, I can’t help it. (Healthy = nourishing and non-corrosive) Age gap relationships work great for us neurodivergents as we tend to attract people different than our age. I’ve read statistics about it. You should definitely give it a shot, especially because male brains remain 5-7 years behind ours!

[@leahwilliams9333]

I have the hardest time making friends. I tend to creep women out; I am one but I creep them out because I have a very hard time being vulnerable and open enough to establish that initial sense of connection, and once I have established it, on the rare occasion that I do, I tend to have a hard time maintaining it, and I am terrible at small talk. It baffles me. And I hate gossiping, because it feels like a form of bullying. I also have a way of getting so anxious, telling myself not to make a specific microexpression, and sort of accidentally, compulsively making that microexpression. I kind of feel baffled as to what a normal conversation even looks like. I feel I can be rejecting but not authentically, sort of as a way of keeping people at a distance, or I can fawn and there is never any living in the moment, acting authentically. But I'm terrified of being authentic as well. I feel most people are far too cruel and they honestly would hate me if I revealed to them what I was thinking, which is sometimes that they are expressing something unreasonable or are really unappealing and ugly talking abusively about someone who isn't even present. Some people are not this afraid of conflict and actually speak their minds and they seem to be well-liked or at least, tolerated.

[@winxclubstellamusa]

@@leahwilliams9333 I know exactly what you mean… but you appear to still have a lot of healing to do! We must first accept ourselves and know that we are worthy of existing and meant to exist (regardless of what our parents and early environment said) before anyone can accept us. So after doing the work to heal your attachment style, codependency, self hatred, and self abandonment, I HIGHLY recommend the book “I hear you” by Michael S Sorensen in order to learn the most integral conversation skills and communication of emotional maturity skills there are, it’s a super easy and short book to read as well that provides a ton of examples. And you didn’t specify if you are neurodivergent or not, but neurodivergents like myself always suffer socially because we fall in the uncanny valley due to how our brain mutation makes many things consistently very unusual about us in all settings. And learning that gave me an immense amount of freedom and self respect, because I realized that it wasn’t a certain deficiency of mine, it was simply how I was born, and that’s ok. And if you feel that you are just being tolerated by people then you are with the wrong company! Because some people are meant to be compatible with you, and others aren’t. So staying in the fawn trauma response of holding onto and trying to earn to approval of people who have proven that they don’t like us is only going to prevent you from finding people who were naturally made to be compatible with you, because no one can make another like them or love them, it’s something that happens naturally by itself if it’s meant to be. I hope that your healing journey leads you to this point of deep self acceptance and self knowledge as well 🙏 Best of luck 🧡

[@Urbangardener1]

You are quite literally describing my life. Strangely, or perhaps not so much, I created a dysfunctional family just like my mother and father. Now my kids are really messed up after the divorce. They don't even know how to talk to me anymore. I understand now they're probably going to have to go through the same thing I did. And there's not much I can do to help them. I used to be one of these people. What I am doing now in my life and absence of my family being around me, is work on myself. Understanding these concepts and how they are affecting my present life is helping me quite a bit. I have learned a lot of very important terms like trauma bonding, transference and counter transference all that stuff. It makes me a little embarrassed to be a human.

[@aceshigh5157]

i'm dismissive avoidant when i'm alone (the therapy example happened to me, practice relationship anorexia, unable to connect to myself (or others), learned at 35 that everyone has feelings i just happened to have shut mine down before i could remember. but when i'm in relationships, i become fearful avoidant (stay in toxic relationships). damn this video really cleared up my confusion. i think that this is what i will actually need to work with a therapist on.

[@avertingapathy3052]

Am like that as well. Been on a real dismissive avoidant bend the last year or so. I can't say it's bad but it's also eating my soul slowly even if I choose not to notice.

[@catherinehamilton1674]

Wow! The threat of being kicked out of the family was very real. Parental contempt. My older brother was actually sent to foster care and he never lived with us again. Because he was a normal 8 year old. Being kicked out was a constant threat. Talk about double-bind!

[@GG-rk1bu]

DA: "Don't consume me! Don't f up my safe, isolated vibe here" 😂

[@cynthiafortier2540]

An ignoring dad is what I had. And an emotionally unavailable and intimidating mom. Tow the line is what I learned. Don't rock the boat. My question is my ignoring dad, I never hear about that? Us 3 girls have so many problems. I am getting help, I have been the scapegoat. Now abandoned by family because I want to improve my life. I'm the bad guy now and accused of I'll mental health. Crazy

[@emmaphilo4049]

Keep doing what's best for you and keep taking care of yourself 🙏🙏🙏 that's the best thing to do

[@shanobat5484]

Living well is the best revenge, hahah

[@fleetskipper1810]

Crazy for sure, but pretty typical. They don’t like it when the abused person says, “I’ve had enough.”

[@HobbinRob]

When i was 21, after multiple suicide attempts, I was in my room crying hysterically. Suddenly Mum was in my room hugging me! I couldn't believe it. She usually mocked my crying or accused me of "putting it on" (yes, even after several suicide attempts). I remember being so amazed that instead of shouting she was actually hugging me! Then I realised it wasn't Mum but my Auntie. Apparently she came to pick up my sisters, heard me crying and was shocked they were in the other room ignoring me. They were so used to my hysterics and we never learned to comfort each other. Happy ending though. My sisters and I all know how to support each other now. I even have a good relationship with Mum. She can't cope with big emotions but now I'm an adult I've got other people to help with that. I love my Mum but she really could have benefited from therapy! I've got two little girls (so far) and I'm really proud of how we care for them. So glad I had decades of therapy before becoming a parent. I'm really hopeful we've broken the cycle.

[@citroenboter]

Oh wow. That was very insightful. I always wondered why I was always trying to help people, being the group mom, always doing things for people. I've always had to either walk on eggshells at home or make myself invisible to not be irritating. Then during the divorce I always was a parent therapist. They always tried to make me pick a side, telling me things I shouldn't have been told.

[@angelapitts2123]

This was me 💯. In the past four years I'm growing and am beginning to feel like a different better person. I worked for a boss for two years and did not once stand up for myself against his harsh narcissist ways. It not only was mentally painful and stressful it eventually lead to physical pain. Intense physical pain that was "stuck" in the back of my leg like an axe has been thrown into me. Once covid came and everything shut down, I never went back and that pain is gone. Every single day I HAVE to work on myself, and these types of videos have saved me. Thank you ❤️

[@maximilianbatz2070]

Interesting point about the back of the leg

[@chaktirose]

It’s trippy reading this. I also experienced a pain in the back leg, middle of the right calf, that developed at the end of 5 year toxic work environment. It was there for 3 months at work and 3 months after I left.

[@ravenhamilton863]

When I first started watching your videos a couple years ago, I had a very resentful feeling towards my parents, I was finally understanding myself and the reasons why I reacted the way I do and it just got me so angry and upset with them. Nowadays, the more I watch, the more I realize that my parents are reacting to their traumas and haven’t had the access, like I have, to help themselves. Knowing that, especially after they’ve both opened up to me (Woo! I became pregnant and seconds after finding out it’s sharing all the trauma stories we all have, that conversation was probably the most productive one I’ve ever had with them) I no longer have that anger. I have that feeling of, I need to help them in the best way I can and implementing certain ways to converse, like addressing the inner child, helps them and us move into a healthier relationship. I won’t ever be able to go back in the past and get the parents I needed, but they are here now and are making the effort to better themselves at 50 years old for the sake of their future grandson and their relationship with their children. That’s gotta be something

[@Nova1-]

Happy for you

[@jencleofe7741]

I love this

[@emmalouie1663]

I definitely think about how much more information there is now about these things compared to in the past. I've never brought it up with my parents though they are too old and it's sort of pointless. I don't think I can forgive them they are just too messed up.

[@gigiarmany4332]

Wow..sounds healthier👏🏾👍🏾❤️

[@janwisz4070]

Your comment really hit home. Thank you for your insight ❤

[@Selfloveyoga1111]

I tend to be insecure and need reassurance in the relationships and to find someone ready for this kinda commitment isnt easy nowdays so i just dont date.Saves me from going through uneccessary heartbreak.

[@grace_pace]

"You're the expert of your own story." Thank you Patrick for that powerful reminder as so many of us come from being raised as invisible and invalid. The shadow self work/inner child healing is a lifelong excavation and pain-laden inquiry - NOT a quick diagnosis with assembly-line fixits as so many are selling these days. The decision to go no contact with my parents took three decades of my adult life to finally architect and only four months to tear down between my only sibling's suicide and the pandemic. Yours is the voice in my head as I continue to commando crawl through year 3 of lockdown as the sole caregiver to a toxic narcissistic mother and enabler father in cognitive decline. Thank you Patrick for your insight, compassion and generosity. Thank you kindred spirits in suffering for sharing your journeys on this channel. 🙏🖖🙏

[@independentthinkers2197]

Thank you so much makes total sense narcissistic mother growing up with me being a highly sensitive person. Thank you so much for sharing and working hard not to reflect this pain on my three girls. 🙏🏻🙏🙏🏽 working so much on inner child healing.

[@princesskileyrae]

My mother understood on some level that she didn't want me, quote; "I was done raising kids," & sent me to my Nana's house more often than not. Nana was the best parent; like a wonderful grandparent plus a mom. I have this weird duality of feeling attached to & bonded with Nana, but wasn't allowed to have her as my "public mom." Instead, I had mom - an angry, combative, vengeful, mean as hell, middle-aged woman who admittedly "loves me because she has to because I'm her kid, & shw doesn't *like* me or my personality." I was barely 5 & being told how unlikable I already was. Whenever mom arrived to pick me up from Nana's, I would have *massive* screaming fits so she'd decide to leave me there versus dealing with me. Nana would admit she didn't know why I only had fits when mom arrived to take me. I think she very much knew & couldn't say it out loud. Nana loved me & knows my mom doesn't. What kid wants to leave with a person who outright says "I don't like you?" Nana understood kids need love. Mom did not. To this day, my mom doesn't understand why her kids "focus so much on her parenting failures" & "go to therapy like we had a bad childhood or something." No one really focus on past negatives anymore, but we have to communicate with her like she's a child that lives in the past & has temper tantrums. Then, she often issues the silent treatment in protest for being expected to behave like an adult or asked a question she doesn't "feel" like answering. It doesn't matter to her anymore what reality is, she lives in a world her mind creates. Now that mom's distortions have gone unchecked for so long, she probably qualifies as delusional. Without her cognitive distortions being corrected by family & society she no longer sees, the delusions not only persist; but they fester rapidly. I never understood how NPD/BPD can be so close to & even bleed into psychosis, but as I got older, I see it make sense. The ego-syntonic nature of NPD makes them essentially unable to be open to receiving help because their view of self lines up with their worldview. There is nothing to "help." They are right & you're the one with all "the issues" that need to be worked out. Stop acting like it's her fault. My mom doesn't see an issue with making me feel unloved, & in fact, uses the fact that I'm "unlovable" to justify her behavior to me to society. It's my fault she doesn't want me because of my unacceptable nature. No parent would want me, clearly. I had screaming fits as a kid. Had I was just been good enough, she'd want me, but I'm not, so it's completely logical that she doesn't. I'm an idiot for not understanding that she doesn't have to want or love me & that I missed my chances, so I "need to get it through my head" that this is how it is. It's my fault for being such a stupid, worthless kid. How dare I be so entitled as an adult to think I deserve *anything* from my mom after how much of a burden & money-suck I've been to her my entire life. What have I done to deserve her time or attention? Nothing! - ACoN

[@fleetskipper1810]

Kiley Rae- your mother sounds almost identical to my husband‘s raging and neglectful mother. He’s been trying to create a healthy personhood for himself his entire life. He’s 66, she’s 94, and she shows no signs of dying. He was always the “helpful” child, and she has devalued him his entire life and made a golden child out of his narcissistic brother. It’s heartbreaking, and also exhausting, for me to see this all the time. Nothing ever changes. He has finally gotten to the point where he told me that he’ll be relieved when she dies, which is a huge admission for him. I’ve tried getting him into therapy, but he simply won’t go. To preserve our relationship, I’ve had to drop the whole idea. Anytime I push him to go to therapy, he equates my suggestion with wanting to divorce him. I’m in a no-win situation.

[@princesskileyrae]

@@fleetskipper1810 wow, I cannot imagine the one I love being controlled by a 94 year-old nmom. I'm so sorry that is yours & his experience. Narcissists seem to have a lot in common with cockroaches as far as survival. When my older sister was about 19 (she's now 40), she declared that she would not be taking care of our mom when she gets old & sick (like our nmom did for her very loving mother). Sister went as far as to say that I'm on my own (I'm disabled & trapped) taking care of nmom. I didn't understand what she meant at the time, I was 13-14, but now that our nmom is 67 years old, I get it. Her ndad is still alive at 90. Everyone with empathy in my family has mostly died off. At 67, my nmom is almost as weak as my ngrandpa. But, neither are showing signs of dying. The one thing I know is that because I'm expected to caregive because no one ekse will, is that I'll get to be the one that puts her in a nursing home someday. It makes sense. If you only have kids so someday they can care for you, yet but you fail so badly actually nurture them; you rot alone in a nursing home. Leaving me alone to deal with my problems on purpose has resulted in more independent thought than I think she realizes. She abused the power dynamic so badly when she was in the position to control others that she still doesn't understand hers only diminishes from here on out. Hoping you don't have to celebrate a 95th birthday. ♡

[@sillysoul3663]

I can see a clear pattern in my family tree if I'm allowed to categorize a bit. My mom was raised by an overbearing and thoughtless mother and neglectful father. She later married my dad, a mind f'er and she herself was immature / thoughtless parent. I am now afraid of becoming any of these to my own child, and my current attachment style with my husband is dismissive avoidant. Thank you for this video Patrick, gave me lots to ponder on as always!

[@Jo-lp1px]

That sounds so hard! I don’t have kids yet. Both my husband and I (especially me!) are trying to heal to one day not mess up our own kid(s). I hope your husband is consistent and safe. I was that to my husband (also dis. av.) and he is healing! I feel like awareness is most important otherwise we’re all lost so I want to celebrate that point in your journey. Believing the best for you 🙏🌷

[@desertboot9755]

Yes, I listen to these and see my own attachment issues and I'm worried about what I'm doing to my own children.

[@meganbaker9116]

@@desertboot9755 Sometimes habits can help us access a deeper quality (Fake it till you make it). I would suggest: ALWAYS look at your child and listen to her when she speaks to you, no matter how long it takes. She will come to know deep down that she matters. It sounds simple but isn’t in a monkey mind world, but this is the thing I’m most grateful I did with my son. It’s pretty radical, and radically validating in a screen-obsessed society, and it’s a gift you can give your children. Also, say “I’m sorry” a lot! Whenever it’s appropriate, say it! It gets easier the more you do it, lol. Last two bits of advice: LOTS of humor and playfulness. You’re not perfect but you can always lighten the mood, and that’s a huge breath of fresh air to your child. It’s like pressing the “re-start” button. And give your children lots of unconditional affection and tell them every day how much you delight in them. All of these make children more resilient and happy, and you can do all of them even if you still have baggage, even a lot of baggage, ha ha!

[@annabelle1471]

omg sounds like a replica here .... wow wow wow . we aren’t alone after all LoL

[@elizabethvaughan4046]

Thank you for acknowledging the neurodivergent community! I’m neurodivergent and queer, and so are most people I know, and it’s frustrating that we often fall through the cracks. I would like to become a mental health professional of some kind myself because of this.

[@thewhittingtons6540]

I’m truly happy that my husband and I went through therapy within our first year. It really helped us come into our own and work together better. Love is a choice ❤️

[@jodyfro1312]

Keep working. It ain’t over.

[@meganbaker9116]

“Love is a choice” is a nice sentiment, but it’s terribly trauma-uninformed. Not what people here need.

[@justthetruth3950]

Love is a choice ❤ I love that sentiment

[@Terra-Quattuor]

This gives me a lot to think about and reflect on, even within myself. To ensure I remain a decent parent and role model for my own children. thank you for sharing this.

[@Nida-031]

Whenever I go out "with my parents" 1) I am always looking after them. Calming them down, afraid others hear their jealous talks, worried how they'll react 2) want to stick right beside them otherwise other people will bully me because of my narc parents always disrespect me publicly. So people think I'm their chew toy too. 3) worried how much I mess up the occasion and that'll make them angry 4) preparing to receive all the projections, gaslight etc that going to happen when we reach back home 5) They take me everywhere they go. When I say I don't want to go my father will talk like he have doubts on me that when they go I'm bringing someone to home. Also he wants "a sacrife" to give when he feel threatened.

[@aprilbr3168]

I have always wondered why my father had shared so many intimate dysfunctional details of my parents intimate relationship. I now realize that I am going to have to recover from incest emotional abuse. Now all of my preoccupational anxiety I have suffered from my entire teens and adult life makes so much sense! Time to do the inner child work my mother keeps strongly suggesting I don’t do. Thank you Patrick!!

[@sof4897]

Attachment styles are so confusing to me because I feel like all of them and none at the same time. I think I might be fearful avoidant but I still can't tell. My relationship with my parents has always been some struggle for control combined with neglect and constant criticism. Both of my parents based our relationships off of needing eachother, them relying on me and me relying on them except when I wanted to rely on them they would never do anything for me. I felt neglected and insane my entire childhood and I knew something was wrong but every time I brought something up to my parents they'd say that I was in the wrong and gaslight me into thinking I was always the bad one, never them. I feel like I can be very avoidant because I'm so scared of being hurt by other people and them thinking I'm insane and not believing me when I say anything but at the same time I can't stay alone and I'm scared to be alone. I also relate a lot to the anxious type with them predicting how their parents feel and trying to make them feel better. I'm constantly aware of when my parents are angry at me without them even saying anything and that's when I stay quiet bc I know their reaction will be bad, but I also scream back at them because I feel like it's the only power I have. It's like I can't decide between the two attachment styles ever, so I guess that would make me fearful avoidant.

[@Ikaros23]

Talk to a therapist. Using internet to give you a diagnosis is not healthy

[@moonmillghost5435]

@@Ikaros23 Well actually, misdiagnosis is common and there are plenty of therapists who are beyond untrustworthy. I feel like the odds are equal. Internet vs therapist.

[@Listen1111]

@@Ikaros23 actually I've tried over ten therapists over ten years, and have learned more from KZbin in the past few years than I did from any of the therapists! In fact my last therapist, in her 70s, said it seemed like watching highly skilled therapists on KZbin seemed to be working for me, and she admitted she just didn't have the empathy I needed! Many therapists told me that my need for them to reflect back what I said, instead of changing the subject and or comparing what I just said to something happening in their own lives or in the world, was unreasonable! Or even too much for me to expect from any person! I can't believe the amount of enabling and unhealed therapists there are that seem to either have no clue, or think they know, and are so wrong that it's painful! Journaling and watching skilled practitioners, Like Patrick and Dr Jay Reid and Dr Ramani, has been more healing for me than therapy, the knowledge they share is power

[@nefarioussagittarius8906]

I can tolerate a limited amount of time with my Dad and almost zero with my Mother. I was not sure what category to fall in in this video. I definitely see some traits of dismissive avoidant in me, just not extreme. (Also keep in mind I am diagnosed with A.D.D. and have always been an introvert, so that factors in.) Certain people drain me and I just can barely even bring myself to pretend that I'm enjoying their company. It reminds me too much of how I was a captive audience and captive anything else they needed to an emotionally immature parent. I'm either going to find the exit or just switch my brain off until they go away. Sometimes I do feel bad if I think I might hurt their feelings, but mostly I'm relieved they are gone. It can take a couple of days of recharge too. I won't see anyone else for a while if I've recently had to put up with a draining person, even someone I like. And I do have people I like. When there is quid pro quo and balance and they don't just talk at or monologue at me, people can sometimes even forget I'm an introvert. My closer friends I will listen to their problems and tell them mine and that is fine as long as it's not all the relationship is. I spent too many years being my mother's therapist and its made me very leery of people who overshare. My trust has to be earned - then, I'll decide if I lower the gate and let you in. Who hurt you? - probably thinks half of who is reading this. A lot of people, sadly. People that in theory at least, I should have been able to trust and be safe with. I know it's not isolated and it certainly doesn't make me special, but this is how a person decided that being alone is better. Or at least safer if not better, but why not both? My husband is superhuman for reigniting my ability to be close with someone. But a lot of times, I still prefer my own company. I have my 'safe' people, but relating in general does not feel safe to me. I learned to take care of and deal with a lot on my own because I didn't want to risk a bad reaction or getting criticized. My mother was also extremely micromanaging. A world where I don't need anybody? Does that mean no more energy draining people who are coming to bother me and redirect my attention to their needs? A few years ago that would have been my ideal world. If it weren't for a few people, it would still be tempting.

[@lisaharris7161]

I could have written this!!!!! Sorry for you…..but makes me feel not so crazy! Very content right now to be alone. No one to offend or offer criticism.

[@KatErina-ii6ru]

Me thinking today I have unhealthy attachment styles.. (attach way too fast, too soon or not at all to animals, people and objects) Then wondering about the parental connection to my childhood and thinking it’s probably extremely hard to change it 🤔 THEN this pops up!! 🤓 I will watch it 💞

[@era1vezoficial]

By watching this I started crying, noticing my parents made mistakes that had such an impact in my life. I’m sure they didn’t mean it still makes me sad ppl don’t plan to ghave kids when they r ready to

[@MariaM-ze5di]

Would be nice to hear about how the survivors of this kind of parenting can impact attachments styles of their own children. And can work on their attachments styles with regards with their own children, to help break the cycle.

[@salenakeyes300]

Currently trying to delve into my childhood traumas. My daughter is avoidant preoccupied and my son is fearful avoidant. In complete correlation to my fearful avoidant style and narcissistic parenting up to this point. I would really appreciate more on this topic of how to parent while reparenting myself😟 and how to heal my children in the process.

[@CMcKay-82]

I agree. I'm watching this bc I KNOW I am messing my kids up. I'm trying to stop but this stuff is so pervasive. It's hard to raise children in a healthy environment when you, yourself are not emotionally balanced. When I had children I had no idea I was so unregulated. I would never have had children intentionally had I known what I do now. My eldest is 12 and I feel I've ruined him. He's riddled with anxiety. Sadly, that's what it took for me to even realize there was a problem with me. 😭 The guilt is nearly unbearable.

[@LadybugLuvblahblah]

I have this pain as well. I didn’t know early on when my kids were small. I did know something wasn’t right and I wasn’t parenting the way I wanted to. I was in therapy for years before realizing I came from a narcissistic family system. I am healthier and I see the changes in my kids but they are basically almost out of the house and I find myself grieving over what could have been different and angry that my family didn’t get help so I could have been parented in a healthier way.

[@LadybugLuvblahblah]

All I ever wanted to be was a good mom to my kids, not like good in other’s eyes but the mom they needed. I feel like I have failed them.

[@MariaM-ze5di]

@@LadybugLuvblahblah What would you do differently if you'd have a re-do after therapy?

[@angeliquescarpa9433]

"you're the expert on your own story." Thanks for that validation! ❤

[@xejelah]

My mom was a narcissist, my father a covert narcissist. I'm a dismissive avoidant and now I've raised an anxious avoidant. I feel bad for my kid. That's quite the family tree.

[@leahtheanimationfan40]

13:49 Anxious Avoidant describes me with my mom, and early on in my romantic relationship. After my parent's divorce and my mom remarried, she wouldn't have time to spend with me because she was so busy with work and appeasing her narcissist husband. So as a teen, I learned that the only way for her to spend quality time with me is if I "give her time" by doing tasks off her to-do-list so that she didn't have to do them. Early on in my relationship with my boyfriend, if he had a to-do-list, but he didn't get something done because he was spending time with me, I would feel bad for "taking up his time." It took about a year of him saying "I'm choosing to spend my time with you because I want to" for me to have a more secure attachment style