Narcissistic

Denial is a normal part of early childhood development, and it is an essential protective mechanism in children experiencing neglect and abuse. Denial helps us ...

- Self-referential. - Unreliable narrator. - Delusional. - Object constancy. - Abuse. - Zero-sum game. - Bully. Narcissistic [personality](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/personality)disordered parents groom their children to accept their control and abuse by deliberately undermining their [confidence](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/confidence)in their own feelings and perceptions. Your parent's reactivity and inability to provide an [empathetic](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/empathy)response to your dependency needs in infancy and childhood elicited a fear response (fight/flight/freeze/fawn/flop) in you that may still persist today. Your narcissistic parent is delusional. Bullying can be harder to see in the covert type of narcissist, who uses more "passive" [aggression](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/anger)like dismissal, barbs, backhanded compliments, withholding acknowledgment, and gossiping about you behind your back. For this population, one of the most difficult aspects of recovery is overcoming [denial](https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/basics/denial) about what they have experienced in their family system.