Why narcissistic abuse is so hard to admit to yourself

Admitting to narcissistic abuse can be monumentally difficult. Particularly if you are at the beginning of your healing journey. Many may have pointed out their concerns you are suffering abuse, yet for you, labelling it “abuse”, is so very hard. And it bothers you that this is the case, you ask yourself: ‘Why can’t I just call it abuse? What’s wrong with me?’ Getting to the point where you can call it by its name, is essential to begin recovering from the devastation of the narcissist who has hijacked your life, heart, mind, and soul. The struggle to reach this point, can be painful. This article helps you get there by understanding why it’s so impossibly hard in the first place. We look at the cycle of shame from narcissistic abuse, and how to break it to move through your journey of recovery.

Why admission matters - The power of acceptance

The thing about admitting any truth to yourself, is that it’s necessary for acceptance, which in turn is a prerequisite to letting go. To recover from narcissistic abuse, moving through each of these stages is integral. Detachment from the narcissist naturally grows within you throughout this process, gifting you with the clarity needed to truly heal by seeing the narc for what they really are.

Admitting to yourself that the narcissist is indeed abusive, is the first major step on this journey. This stands to reason as what remains unacknowledged, cannot be addressed nor, obviously, healed. Conversely, refusing to admit to abuse exacerbates internal mechanisms that desperately need you to come to the point of acceptance. Frequently, avoidance of emotions, thoughts and memories attached to traumatic experiences such as abuse, result in the development of symptoms of PTSD and C-PTSD. Hence, the importance of admitting to what has happened to you, is the way forward for healing.

Self-validation

The fact that you are wrestling with why you can’t admit to having suffered abuse is actually a really positive sign. It indicates that the truth is winning the battle inside you. It is in the process of being surfaced…you are almost there! Wanting to answer the question of why you can’t admit it, also implies that intellectually and objectively, when you look at the evidence, there is no way around it. It is/was abuse.

When able to remove yourself sufficiently from the narcissist’s manipulations, you unequivocally know the truth. Yet this realisation only agitates you further when the doubts from the narcissist’s gaslighting kick in again, only to lead you back full circle to where you started. You know the facts, but you are programmed to not to trust them, nor yourself.

It is a maddening cycle. You question yourself. Question them. And because you can’t label it abuse you want to know ‘what’s wrong with me that I can’t just call it what it is?!’ But rest assured, you are almost there. The truth is setting you free. And when you get there, by saying ‘yes, this is what has happened to me’, you give yourself what you’ve been starved of for so long: self-validation. The power of this cannot be underestimated. You are verifying the truth of your reality. And that you matter.

So, why is admitting to narcissistic abuse so hard?

Denial Whilst there is ongoing enmeshment with the narcissist, attachment subsists, and the power of their games continue to poison your mind. Whether you are still in a relationship with them or not. You know the entanglement is still alive & well for you, as long as the answer is yes to the question ‘am I hoping that they will change, and the abuse will stop?’. The answer to this whilst still in a relationship is readily recognisable. When no longer in a relationship, it’s a bit trickier. You know that it is still thriving within you when you secretly hold onto thoughts like ‘I just know they will wake up to what they’ve done, and they will change because we are meant to be together’. The survival of hope is directly relevant to avoiding admitting to the abuse. To sustain hope, denial is working hard to turn you away from reality by minimising or outright negating your truth. As long as you cling to hope, you remain emotionally hooked, indeed addicted to the narcissist.

Sense making Let’s be categorically clear: there is nothing with you. Your internal struggle, and the denial, is a normal reaction to an abnormal situation. ALL those who have suffered narcissistic abuse, at some point, go through this internal battle. Repeat after me: ‘there is nothing wrong with me’. It is the result of the trauma sustained at the hands of the pathological narcissist. The very thing you are fighting to deny: the abuse. All the trauma bonding, effect of Stockholm syndrome, addiction to the relationship and gaslighting etc. is precipitating your struggle. You are on a sense making journey seeking some purpose and logic where none can be found. Rationalising the chaos of the narcissist’s game is proving futile which invites in cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance To maintain hope, you are trying to reconcile the irreconcilable. You are aware of your suffering, and do know it’s because of the narcissist’s harm. Simultaneously you want to believe in their good and that they will change. Because you need this to be the case. Deep down, you DO know it is abuse. But, owning this terrible truth and labelling their behaviour as such, signifies the following:

All along, irrespective of the label, all the actions, the behaviours, the decisions, the betrayals, during ALL of this, none of it has been OK with you. Not really. Not even when you have told yourself it doesn’t really matter…or maybe you don’t remember things properly…or that they were just having a bad day…or that you deserved it…or…whatever. At no point, during any of these attempts to squash your truth, has any of the abuse been OK with you.

You know that by remaining in the relationship or re-entering it, having accepted their treatment of you as abuse you would be making an informed choice as to what you accept as being OK for you from now on. And this isn’t OK with you.

The two points above are cognitive dissonance in action in the absence of admission of reality and not letting go. You are struggling with two mutually exclusive concepts. You know you cannot concurrently be abused & be OK. Equally, you know the promise of an emotionally healthy and loving relationship isn’t going to happen.

Internalised shame All of this causes you to feel shame (which of course should NEVER sit with the victim and rightfully sits with the abuser). You know it isn’t OK, and yet you stay, because you:

want to believe the promises of change and that the abuse will stop

desperately NEED this to happen – like any drug, the thought of living without that person you first met when being love bombed, is too much to bear; and

believe you love them.

The shame resulting from trying to make the ‘not OK, OK’, is one more state the pathological narcissist intends for you to feel as a result of their abuse. By internalising shame, the negative self-beliefs the narcissist programmes you to own are strengthened. The greater your sense of shame, the more self-worth plummets and the less likely you are to sever ties and remove yourself as a source of their supply. The effect of all this combined is the root cause of why admitting to narcissistic abuse is so hard. It is a self-sustaining vicious cycle that reinforces & perpetuates narcissistic abuse. Time to break the cycle!

Breaking the cycle by admitting to narcissistic abuse

To recap…you already DO know it is abuse. AND, you already know this is not OK with you. This means you at a crossroads on your journey where you are ready to confront the truth. You know you must make a choice to either: a) carry on knowingly aware of the abuse, or b) cut things off. Both are hugely painful and difficult options. Neither of these appeal in any way. Resistance is huge, and understandably so. The differences between the options are… In a) the shame will cripple you slowly eating away at your sweet self. And who knows to what extent the abuse will continue to escalate & what damage ensue. In option a) your suffering will not end. It will undoubtedly increase. In option b) the withdrawal will also feel crippling for a time. BUT, you will heal. You will get through it. Your suffering WILL end.

In option a) there is no hope you will be OK. In option b) hope you will be OK is a valid belief to sustain. This is where freedom & joy is waiting for you. Is there really a choice? Choose YOU!