Recovering narcissistic abuse survivors ask 'am I a narcissist'

It is inevitable that in recovery a narcissistic abuse survivor will ask themselves 'am I a narcissist' 'is it me? The reason for this is that if you have any empathy, or any empathy left after abuse, that you would question what your input was and how much you felt you were responsible for the abuse. A narcissistic person would never ask themselves this.

 It is a common thread that due to the type of abuse by narcissists, where they blame it all on you, that you already feel it was all our fault anyway. They told you this in overt and covert ways. One of the biggest healing moments in your life will be really seeing that it was not your fault and knowing this deeply. It does not matter whether due to your own childhood that you may have ended up with such a person. The crucial thing is that you did not deserve to be abused, by anyone. It was not your fault. Abuse is always a choice.

If you live with narcissists, were brought up with narcissists, there is a chance that yes you did pick up some narcissist ticks. You may have copied behaviours living so close. We merge with these people so much that we often don't know where they start and we end> So it would be obvious that to some extent we copied them. When someone is in an abusive situation they can also become abusive themselves due to provocation by the abuser. Many survivors end up with coping devices, things they had to do in order to survive and get through a situation they were often unable to escape from.

But are you a narcissist? Well seeing as a narcissist would never ask themselves this question, you can rest assured that you are not one. However it is vital for your recovery that you do honestly look at who you are and what habits you have picked up on the way to cope with life. If you are on a path of healing yourself you can know that this in itself means that you have empathy, for yourself and those around you.  I hope this answers your question.