Thanks you, David. The information in your comment is priceless.

Thank you so much for this article.

Pax Christi,
Ben

“Spiritual development” is an odd term here, one without any real definition. Narcissists do definitely have moral instincts, and do have rich inner lives. While they can often have distorted views of themselves or the world, and absolutely can harm people, I would avoid articles like this one in the future, which use broad, overgeneralized statements like “It is evident that narcissists are very harmful to those around them and have few redeeming qualities.” I would also avoid any sources that use spiritual terminology or create a dichotomy between “divine empaths” and “evil narcissists.” Pay attention to who wrote the source as well. Is it peer-reviewed? What are the qualifications of the author? What incentives do the author have to make you think a certain way? Just some food for thought 🙂

I particularly appreciate the emphasis on empathy and mirror neurons. It’s fascinating to learn how these brain mechanisms can be affected by narcissistic abuse, leading to emotional and psychological trauma. Your article not only educates but also empowers survivors by helping them understand the underlying processes.

There is a great deal of research under the title BPD. I am not fond of that DSM designation because it fails to discriminate between the empathy impaired BPD and the functional empathy or neurotypical BPD and there are literally worlds of differences.

Who are the BPD? They are the children of narcissists. They have suffered terrific abuse and neglect issues literally from birth. NPD is the most heritable of the personality disorders. That ends up meaning that NPD people often have NPD children. They also have NT children.

The studies of BPD people reveal distinct damage to the hippocampus area of the brain and the amygdala area. This damage is the same kind of damage seen in CPTSD and PTSD. There are hundreds of neurological studies which demonstrate the problem.

The abnormalities found in the BPD/CPTSD people is of a very different nature than the abnormalities found in NPD. First it involves different areas of the brain. Second the damage in BPD/CPTSD does seem to heal if the person is removed from the abusive environment. The abnormalities noted in the NPD people does not seem to be treatable at this time although there are some whom hold out hope for a new/old class of drugs called hallucinogens.

Hope this helps.

David

There

Is your son old enough to have an interview with the family court judge or a social worker to explain the abuse right from the source? Hopefully, your son won’t be afraid to speak out against his dad. Call your local legal aid office which may provide free representation for the child, as a guardian ad litem, who will speak for your son in court.

I am desperate to find someone who understands that the brain is a system and the hard wiring is affected for better or worse by non chemical external factors. My parents were so inadequate and the father toxic that I had FND ataxia and brain fog before my first memory. And things only got worse coming to a head with a nervous breakdown before my 20th birthday

I am desperate to find someone who understands that the brain is a system and the hard wiring is affected for better or worse by non chemical external factors. My parents were so inadequate and the father toxic that I had FND ataxia and brain fog before my first memory. And things only got worse coming to a head with a nervous breakdown before my 20th birthday