Featured Image Credit: @narcabusecoach/Instagram
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Life, Mental Health, Health
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Life, Mental Health, Health
We're all probably aware of the heartbreaking emotional toll victims of narcissistic abuse suffer, but did you know it can actually have a number of physical symptoms too?
Therapist and motivator Danish Bashir has dedicated his entire adult life to helping victims of narcissistically abusive relationships find the courage to leave.
And with that in mind, he has issued a warning over the nine most obvious physical indicators that you're on the receiving end of emotional abuse.
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In recent years, relationship experts and abuse survivors have continued to use their expertise as a means of emphasising one brutal reality.
Much like the act of gaslighting, narcissistic behaviour can fly under the radar for lengthy periods of time without the victim realising.
Thankfully, however, there are usually some viable signs of narcissistic abuse that friends and family members can pick up on, that can hopefully be used as encouragement to help the victim see the darkness in their partner's behaviour.
These indicators are often discussed by motivational speaker Danish Bashir, who uses his social media presence as a means of inspiring his followers to prioritise their wellbeing and end harmful relationships.
Earlier this month, he revealed five technological signs that you've previously been the victim of emotionally abusive behaviour - long paragraphs, over-analysing messages, rewording their message in tone, re-reading old messages, obsessively waiting for a reply.
This week, however, Bashir is focussing on eight physical signs of emotional abuse.
Whilst we all know by now that words can hurt, they don't cause protrusions that are visible to the eye - like bruises, or broken bones.
Bashir claims, however, that narcissistic abuse can have an impact on the body its functions - especially if you're the one being subjected to it.
Firstly, he explains that a huge proportion of victims he's dealt with in the past have complained of suffering with a ringing in their ears, comparing it to sensational experienced by those with tinnitus.
He then said that victims often experience 'extremely dry and itchy skin', before going on to point out that 'chronically dry eyes and headaches' are among the key indicators of narcissistic abuse.
Bashir added that as well as suddenly suffering with a much looser grip and a general 'weakness in the limbs', that victims can experience strange pains in their nerves or a tingling sensation that could be compared to pins and needles.
'Neck and shoulder stiffness' are also on his list, and he says that hair loss and general thinning - something traditionally associated with feelings of stress - could both serve as indicators, too.
And when it comes to a victim's ability to sleep, Bashir went on to say that this is can be affected in two different ways.
Firstly, he said that many people on the receiving end of narcissistic abuse can struggle sleeping altogether, describing the struggle as similar to insomnia.
Next, he says that, many victims suffer with severe 'restlessness and rumination while sleeping' as a result of their trauma.
Responding to the viral video containing his advice, thousands of viewers - many of whom claimed to have been narcissistically abused in the past - shared insights into the ways that their bodies were affected by the abuse.
"Don’t forget stomach issues. Always when I was around him had upset stomach etc etc … which was never an issue before him," one suggested.
Another opened up: "All the symptoms, I’m divorced now from the nar but he left me with a couple of autoimmune disorders."