S10E7 - Surviving Narcissistism Moms & Complex PTSD Ft. Sarah

Please welcome our special guest, Sarah. Sarah is a speech-language pathologist at a greater Birmingham, AL high school. In our episode, Sarah discusses her mental health and therapy journey, growing up in a house with a narcissistic mother, and Complex PTSD. 

Complex PTSD is defined as a more severe type of Post-traumatic stress disorder characterized by “emotional flashbacks, toxic shame, self-abandonment, a vicious inner critic, and social anxiety”, as described by Pete Walker in his book “COMPLEX PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving” (2018, p. 3). Common Complex PTSD symptoms include “emotional flashbacks, a tyrannical inner/outer critic, toxic shame, self-abandonment, social anxiety, abject feelings of loneliness or abandonment, fragile self-esteem, attachment disorder, developmental arrests, relationship difficulties, radical mood vacillations, disassociation via distracting activities or mental processes, hair-triggered fight/flight response, oversensitivity to stressful situations, and suicidal ideation” (Walker, 2018, p. 7). Maternal narcissism describes a mother with narcissistic personality disorder or narcissistic tendencies. There are six main types or faces of maternal narcissism, as described by Dr. Karyl McBride in her book “Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers” (2008, pp. 46-57). These six faces include the flamboyant-extrovert, the accomplished-oriented, the psychosomatic, the addicted, the secretly mean, and the emotionally needy. 

Resources: 
-COMPLEX PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving by Pete Walker oWalker, P. (2018). COMPLEX PTSD: From Surviving to Thriving. 
-Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers by Karyl McBride, Ph.D. oMcBride, K. (2008). Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers. Atria Paperback. 
-What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence edited by Michele Filgate oFilgate, M. (Ed.). (2019). What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About: Fifteen Writers Break the Silence. Simon & Schuster Paperbacks. 
-Mean Mothers: Overcoming the Legacy of Hurt by Peg Streep oStreep, P. (2009). Mean Mothers: Overcoming the Legacy of Hurt. HarperCollins Books. 
-Swift, T., Dessner, A. (2020). Tolerate It (Song). On Evermore (Album).  Republic Records.