As a narcissistic abuse survivor, if brushing your teeth feels like climbing a mountain, you’re not lazy or weak; you’re just done surviving. If you feel exhausted even after sleeping for hours, that’s not in your head; it’s literally in your body. As a survivor of extreme abuse, you have spent so long in survival mode that your body has forgotten what safety even feels like. You have been hyper-alert, hyper-aware, always predicting their next mood swing, trying to avoid another fight, trying to keep the peace, and now your nervous system is fried, your hormones are shot, and your energy tank is way past empathy. This isn’t just emotional burnout; it is physical collapse.
Here’s what no one tells you: the trauma doesn’t just live in your memories; it lives in your cells. It affects how your brain works, how your gut works, and how your immune system works. You may feel like you are falling apart, but really, your body is trying to protect you. It is speaking the truth your mind was forced to ignore.
Sign 1: Emotional Numbness and Exhaustion
You feel emotionally numb and exhausted, even after resting. There is a kind of tiredness that no amount of sleep fixes. You lie down, you rest, you cancel plans, but the exhaustion stays. That is because you’re not just tired; you’re depleted. When you have spent months or years with a narcissist, your body has been living in survival mode. That means your sympathetic nervous system, the part of your body that deals with stress, has been working nonstop. It has been constantly scanning for danger, preparing you to respond. Even when you were asleep, you weren’t truly resting; you were bracing. Over time, this state burns out your adrenal glands, the tiny glands that sit on top of your kidneys and release stress hormones like cortisol. When they get overworked for too long, your whole system starts crashing: your mood, your energy, even your immune system, they all drop. You’re not just tired because life is busy; you’re tired because your body has been holding the line for too long, and now that it’s safe (or it’s at least safer), it is falling apart because it finally can.
Sign 2: Brain Fog and Memory Issues
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