Is Depression a Symptom of Narcissistic Abuse?

Trauma & Narcissism Redefined

Caroline Strawson

Narcissisticabuse, Health & Fitness, Narcissist, Self-improvement, Education, Recovery, Mental Health, Trauma

4.8 • 701 Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2022

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, we will talk about depression and narcissistic abuse. Although there is some controversy around whether narcissistic abuse causes depression or not, once depression is identified in the victims of narcissistic abuse, that is not really relevant from a trauma-informed perspective. The focus should be on the origin of that depression and on the protector parts that show up.

Today, I'll be sharing my experiences with depression during my marriage with my ex-husband, how I identified depression as a protector part for me and what it was trying to protect me from.

What You Will Learn In This Episode:

- How being diagnosed with postnatal depression affected me and the way I saw myself

- What role my own stories of not feeling good enough had in my decision to stay in an abusive relationship

- Why I now know that depression was acting as a protector part

- The importance of getting curious about the origin of our protector parts

In my case, it wasn't that my ex-husband abuse was making me feel depressed. The core wound that stepped up for me, my "depression protector part", was protecting me from what my system considered the bigger danger at the time. So my invitation for you is, instead of trying to minimise depression symptoms, to get curious about its origin and its root cause.

Resources:

- Episode 079 15 Gaslighting Terms A Narcissist Will Use https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/079-15-gaslighting-terms-a-narcissist-will-use/id1527479270

- Join my Narcissistic Trauma Recovery Programme™ https://go.carolinestrawson.com/heal-the-trauma-of-narcissistic-abuse

- Join my Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/thriveafternarcissisticabuse

- Connect with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinestrawson/

- My website: https://www.carolinestrawson.com/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to the narcissistic trauma recovery podcast. I'm Caroline Strawson and I'll be sharing with you
0:09.5	awareness, understanding and education about the devastating effects of narcissistic abuse to help you thrive.
0:16.4	I want you to know that I've been exactly where you are and I believe you.
0:21.3	And this show is all about taking you from trauma to transformation.
0:30.4	Hi, welcome to my podcast.
0:32.4	I'm so delighted that you are here so that you know you're not on your own.
0:38.2	You know, one of the biggest reasons why I started this podcast and YouTube channel, Instagram, Facebook groups is primarily
0:46.8	genuinely with the need for you to know you're not on your own. I felt so alone and isolated going through narcissistic abuse because I felt like
0:57.9	nobody got it, nobody understood. And in fact, I was even starting to bore myself even talking
1:03.1	about it, but it just felt like nobody understood. And the more I would try and explain it to people,
1:07.7	the more they would look at me like Caroline, get over it, or Caroline,
1:12.1	what's wrong with you, or just move on from that. And when people don't actually understand trauma,
1:17.7	which is why it's called the narcissistic trauma recovery podcast, you know, trauma is what you have
1:23.4	because it's our nervous system's response to our perception of danger. The abuse is what has
1:28.9	happened to us. And I want to empower you to know that there is hope. You are seen, you are heard,
1:35.6	and the biggest thing you're believed, you know, I get so many questions with people saying,
1:40.4	am I the narcissist? No, you're not. Remember, no narcissist would ever ask that question.
1:46.6	So in today's episode, I want to talk to you about depression, how that can perhaps maybe manifest
1:52.3	from narcissistic abuse, and which comes first, almost like the chicken and the egg. Is it the
1:57.6	depression and then the narcissist behaves in that way or does depression
2:03.8	come after narcissistic abuse? And there are many, many nuances to all of this. And again,
2:08.6	this isn't to diagnose anybody. This isn't to say anything. You know, whenever you're in any
	...

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