Health issues are no joke, and narcissistic abuse can be where so many of them begin.
One minute you feel fine, and the next it’s like you don’t even know what’s going on. You’re confused, you feel overwhelmed, and quite rightly; scared.
This isn’t an accident, and time can be just what health issues need in order to snuggle into your system and create havoc.
Let’s look at 12 health issues that you can develop when you are abused by a narcissist. I wonder which ones may be relevant to you.
#1 Anxiety
I think this is the big one for so many people who have suffered at the abusive hands of a narcissist.
Anxiety; the health issue that derives from the very types of people who are keen to keep you feeling on a constant edge, and as though the eggshells you’re walking on are your only choice of flooring.
You’d think it’d be easy to switch anxiety off, but it’s not.
It’s a life’s work for some victims of abuse to even begin to manage, but there are so many effective tools out there now, as well as therapeutic options.
You were never destined to have anxiety. It was injected into you by a person keen to grasp control of your life in all ways.
#2 Fatigue
What can be more tiring than having to live under a layer of abuse for as long as you did? Over time, feeling tired can literally turn into fatigue daily and nightly.
Doing a normal amount of activities can prove too much for people who are just under total nervous system dysregulation.
If you’ve experienced this, or are living with it, you are far from alone.
#3 Depression
It’s no wonder depression takes hold when you’ve been living with and abused by a narcissist for as long as you probably have.
When someone takes your very essence and stamps all over it, leaving you a hollowed shell of your former self, it’s difficult to feel anything, let alone happiness.
The feeling of numbness comes when a narcissist takes everything from you and still wants more.
#4 Insomnia
When we sleep, our guards fall down around us. We allow our subconscious minds to wander as we lay helpless in our beds.
Sleep is crucial for a functioning healthy person, but you won’t get it all the while your nervous system is still set to fight-or-flight mode.
Narcissistic abuse will do that to a person. The feeling that you aren’t quite as safe as you think you are will override any need for sleep, no matter how tired you are.
Broken nights, if you can even manage to fall asleep, will leave you feeling foggy and down.
#5 Chronic stress
You will never really know the extent of chronic stress until it happens to you.
One day, you will wake up with more symptoms than your body is able to contain, and that’s when you know you’ve been through the mill with a narcissist.
Stress manifests itself through different ways, but ultimately it can be a compilation of every other point in this topic, and more.
The burnout is real. You feel like you’re coming down from the world’s most addictive experience, and that feeling as if you’re losing control will be real.
It’s no joke to experience chronic stress, and it doesn’t just go away after a few days or even weeks.
#6 Panic attacks
Panic attacks are no joke. They can crop up at any given moment, and I think that’s why so many people panic about having them.
Narcissists will do that to you. This fear constantly bubbling away inside you like a dormant volcano has to be pushed out somewhere every now and then, and this is where panic attacks come in.
They shed a light on what you’ve been experiencing, and your previously abusive relationship fiercely represents that feeling that you aren’t in control.
#7 Migraines or cluster headaches
Nothing screams stress more than a headache or cluster headaches. Built from tension that rises up, they are both unpleasant and frequent when you are being abused by a narcissist.
But you know, “Pull yourself together” and all that, right? That’s exactly the attitude of a narcissist who will see your headache as nothing but an excuse.
#8 Muscle tension
Speaking of tension, yes, that can bounce down into any part of your body.
Most trauma survivors feel as though they are carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders so a common place for tension in them is the shoulders and neck.
Let’s be honest, when you’re dealing with these overgrown babies, the tension can and will form anywhere in the body, and boy will you know about it when you feel it.
#9 High blood pressure
Unfortunately, high blood pressure doesn’t just come from other issues such as being overweight or having a high-demand job.
It can also derive from the ery house you like to call home, and the person living in it with you.
You might not think that something so serious can be linked to the narcissist, but think about how much stress they put you under every day.
It’s no wonder your body will constantly feel as though it’s having to fight.
#10 Heart palpitations
When your body’s fight-or-flight system is challenged and triggered, those stress hormones will be released that increase your heart rate and will result in you suffering with and experiencing heart palpitations.
If you get them, it’s wise to keep track of when they occur and try to manage your stress in order to lessen them.
They are scary, but mostly harmless. But that doesn’t mean you should have to tolerate them on such a regular basis.
#11 Digestive issues
The digestive system is one of the areas of your body that will slow right down when you are under stress because the body knows what to prioritize instead.
Think about it. You are so used to that racing heart, or the sweats, or the anger that your nervous system needs to work out which is more important.
As the digestive system goes to sleep, you can expect to feel sluggish, bloated and often have trouble going to the bathroom.
Sometimes it can even be the other way around, but either way, those issues will rear their ugly heads.
#12 General body pain
All over, with no real reason why that you can think of (until that is, you start to join the dots).
Body pain can just be where you are so tired, exhausted, fatigued from the day-to-day living of being around a narcissist that it becomes the norm for you.
It’s no joke, either. It makes you feel as though there’s really something wrong with you, and I’d say there probably was.
Even after you break up with a narcissist, it can take the body a long time to get back to some kind of normality
If you have any health issues that are affecting you, please reach out to your doctor for support and guidance. They are there for that very reason.
