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Narcissistic Parents
Short Term and Long Term effects on Children

Having a narcissistic parent has many effects on a child - most especially a growing child. Due to their vulnerability, the effects of a narcissistic parent is most evident in their children. People that show traits of narcissism often feel the need to control others. Because a parent's role often involves guiding their children and often being the primary decision maker in the child's life, especially at a young age, a narcissistic parent will often abuse this power and become overly possessive and controlling. This possessiveness and excessive control dis-empowers the child; the parent sees the child simply as an extension of themselves, some would say, as "their puppet". With time, this affects the child's imagination and level of curiosity, and they will often develop an extrinsic style of motivation. This heightened level of control is attributed to the narcissistic parent not allowing for the "process of separate development."

Narcissistic parents are quick to anger. This trait makes their children more at risk of physical and emotional abuse. In order to prevent this anger and further punishment, children of narcissistic parents will often resort to complying to their parent's every demand, no matter the extent. To please a narcissist, you must conform to all their beliefs and essentially cater to their varying needs. Without doing this, one will often find themselves in conflict with a narcissist. This not only affects the child's well-being, but also affects the child's ability to make logical decisions on their own. The child will often lack self confidence and the ability to gain total control over their lives as adults. Identity crisis, loneliness, and struggles with self expression are also common effects seen in children that have been raised by a narcissistic parent. The struggle to discover one's self as an adult stems from the great amount of projective identification that the now adult experienced as a child. Projective identification can be explained as having someone else's identity and traits projected onto another, usually due to a close relationship. As a child, one may never get the opportunity to experience their own identity as a result of projective identification.

Though each individual differs based on other life experiences, children of narcissistic parents often go on to have character traits such as: introversion, kindness, agreeableness, and a keen interest and empathy for people who are mentally ill

Mental Health Effects on Children Studies have found that children of narcissistic parents have significantly higher rates of depression and lower self-esteem during adulthood in comparison to those who did not perceive their caregiver to be narcissistic. These outcomes are a result of the narcissistic parents using their children to "promote their own grandiose self-images" and a way for them to "regulate their own emotional experiences . Also a contributing factor to the higher rates of depression are the narcissistic parent's lack of empathy towards their child. The child's desires are often denied, their feelings restrained, and their overall emotional well-being often ignored

Because children of narcissistic parents learn to eventually submit and conform, they lose touch of themselves as individuals and will likely have very few memories of ever feeling appreciated or loved by their parents simply for being themselves Instead, they associate the love and appreciation to conformity. Often times, the only way to receive good treatment from a narcissist is by distancing yourself from them. Unfortunately, this is often not an option for their children, especially in their developing years. However, some children of narcissistic parents resort to this option during adolescence if they grow to view the relationship as toxic.

Reflection
When evaluating an article...

Is everything in the article relevant to the article topic?

Yes.

Is there anything that distracted you?

No.

Is any information out of date?

No.

Is anything missing that could be added?

Other aspects of the effects of having an narcissistic parent

Adding more components to the article

Is the article neutral?

More on the side that establishes the struggles of having a narcissistic parent

Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

Yes, that having a narcissistic parent is all bad

Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

Underrepresented: Parent's point of view

Overrepresented: Child's point of view

Citations:

Do the links work?

Yes.

Does the source support the claims in the article?

Yes.

Is each fact referenced with an appropriate, reliable reference?

Mostly.

Where does the information come from? Are these neutral sources?

Mostly articles leaning more towards a particular claim

If biased, is that bias noted?

Not really.