12.31.2023 - By Renee Swanson
One of the worst things you can say to a victim of covert narcissistic abuse is “every family has their issues. No one is perfect.”
Just saying this statement now makes my skin crawl. As a victim of covert narcissistic abuse, when a friend would tell me, well every family has their issues, it completely invalidated everything that I was going through. It was like I now had no room to say anything else about what was going on.
I mean what was I going to say, “No they don’t. Everyone else is perfect.”
Or - “Oh really? Tell me what issues you have.” And then try to make light of their situation.
When these words would come out of someone else's mouth, I felt completely unheard. And that no matter what I said from here, I was going to sound desperate and petty, like a constant complainer, never happy.
The message that was communicated to me was that no one was perfect. I wanted to scream, I don't want perfect! That's not what I was after. I did not know the words at the time, but I know them now. I just wanted normal.
Doctor Ramani video referenced in this episode
https://youtu.be/Bj5hVoaiKFw?feature=shared