Now, I know your question may be, “Is there a way to rewire the brain to heal it?” Yes, there is good news: neuroplasticity. Your brain, though damaged, is capable of healing with the right support and consistency. If you gain access to those things, you can retrain your brain and rebuild the circuits that were hijacked by the narcissist.
Here is what helps: trauma-informed therapy, especially EMDR, Internal Family Systems (IFS), or somatic-based approaches such as mindfulness and meditation, because they calm the amygdala and strengthen the prefrontal cortex. Journaling and narrative therapy help re-engage the hippocampus. Safe relationships restore your trust in connection, while movement and breath work regulate the nervous system. Education about trauma, like this, helps you stop blaming yourself.
When you learn to understand what the abuse did to your brain, you stop internalizing it as some form of weakness. Narcissistic abuse doesn’t just leave emotional wounds; it rewires your brain for survival at the cost of peace, clarity, and connection. The forgetfulness, the anxiety, the emotional dysregulation, the exhaustion—they’re not just in your head, as you may have been told. They are in your brain and your body as well.
But you’re not doomed. Your brain can change, as I have already explained. Healing begins the moment you stop asking, “What’s wrong with me?” and start asking, “What happened to me? What happened to my brain?” Because once you understand the damage inside and out, you can begin.
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