Authors: Ms Sheela Dang, Dr. Avinash DeSousa
Abstract: Narcissistic abuse refers to psychological and emotional abuse that includes manipulation, humiliation, coercive control, gaslighting, and constant dehumanization of an individual. Experiences like these can greatly affect the psychological well-being, emotional stability, relationships with others and personal identity of survivors. The current study, titled an ‘Analysis of Psychological Symptoms and Experiences of Trauma among Survivors of Narcissistic Abuse’, reports the psychological symptoms and experiences related to trauma among survivors of narcissistic abuse. The anxiety, depression, and emotional distress, low esteem, hyper-vigilance and helplessness, is followed by difficulty in trust establishment. This includes trauma experiences from long-lasting emotional manipulation, social isolation, invalidation, and controlling behaviours. The researcher adopts a quantitative method, with an anticipated sample size of 200 respondents who suffered from narcissistic abuse. Through an appropriate structured questionnaire covering some relevant demographic details, abuse-related experiences, and measures of psychological symptoms and trauma responses, data will be collected.Analyses for frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation will be used to study the distribution and severity of experience reported. The relationship between trauma experiences and psychological symptoms can also be investigated using suitable inferential statistical techniques. The study seeks to clarify survivors’ mental issues and highlight the areas that require appropriate psychological support and intervention. Through an examination of abusive experiences and psychological distress reported, the study aims to enhance awareness that is survivor-centered, early recognition of trauma-related difficulties, and development of strategies for informed support. The findings could be a helpful resource for counsellors, mental health practitioners, researchers and the support organisations that assist survivors of narcissistic abuse.
