Were You Raised by a Narcissist?

No one has perfect parents. We all make mistakes, including mistakes in parenthood. But growing up can look quite different when raised by narcissistic parents.

When we look at narcissism, we can usually find common traits such as feelings of grandiosity and superiority. They have a very superficial image of themselves, relying on building up the image they are showing to other people. Narcissists lack empathy which helps them manipulate the people in their lives for their own gain. They also don’t like to be inconvenienced, even by family.

Narcissistic Parents

When it comes to narcissistic parents, these traits can present a bit differently. Image is extremely important to a narcissist, and their children are a part of that image for better or worse. Narcissistic parents can use their children to fulfill goals and ambitions by living their dreams through their children. They use their children’s success to show their success as parents. However, this is a spectrum and can swing in the complete opposite direction. Instead of seeing their child’s success as their own, a narcissistic parent can feel threatened by their child; the child succeeding means that they are better than their parent.

A common dynamic for children with narcissistic parents is the golden child vs. the scapegoat. The golden child is the…