Narcissistic Abuse Research

Narcissistic Abuse Research

Project 2023-03-17 13:31:04 +1300

Most of us want to contribute to a future in which everyone in Aotearoa New Zealand has the chance to thrive. Wherever possible we want to protect people from harm, and we want anyone who does experience abuse and harm to get the support and resources they need to recover and thrive. Right now, we have an opportunity to reduce the harm of narcissistic abuse in Aotearoa New Zealand, through research that will enable early intervention and more effective help for people impacted by this kind of abuse.

We are raising funds to undertake urgently needed research into narcissistic abuse. Narcissistic abuse is a form of psychological and emotional violence. Narcissistic abuse may be difficult to recognise, even by the person experiencing the abuse, but the impact can be long lasting on a survivor’s mental health.  As a result, statistics on how common narcissistic abuse is are hard to come by.

Recent research has established some of the interpersonal impacts from being in a close relationship with someone who has traits of pathological narcissism, but few qualitative studies exist.

The aim of the proposed research is to assist government agencies, NGOs, and private services to investigate what is currently a largely undetected and unaddressed form of psychological violence in New Zealand.

What is narcissistic abuse?

Although the term ‘narcissism’ has become more common in colloquial or casual use, the clinical concept of narcissistic abuse refers to the psychological abuse that an individual with narcissistic traits inflicts on others. Those with narcissistic traits have little or no empathy for the effect that their behaviour has on other people.  They may engage in very unhealthy, volatile, and dysregulated behaviour that impacts partners, friends, family members, and colleagues.  Narcissistic abuse often involves patterns of invalidation and gaslighting (psychological manipulation which causes another person to question the validity of their own perception and reality).  This makes it difficult for the other person to recognise that abuse is occurring and the need for intervention. Exposure to narcissistic abuse can cause significant psychological harm to survivors.  We observe survivors to experience repercussions that may persist for many years, including confusion, self blame, self doubt, anxiety, helplessness, hopelessness, rumination, regret, isolation, shame, and trauma.

Why is it a problem that requires further research?

Most of the intimate partner and domestic violence research has focused on more overtly aggressive personalities up until the last several years.  Narcissistic personalities can be very difficult to detect - people with narcissistic traits are often able to enter relationships and succeed in the workplace as they can present as charming, engaging, and even appear appeasing and empathic.

Some narcissistic behaviours observed in personal or professional relationship dynamics may include:

- Extreme avoidance of feeling any shame or embarrassment, leading to dismissive or cover-up behaviours that can hurt other people.

- Demanding and seeking high degrees of personal and positional power or excessive validation to ensure control.

- Using fear, guilt, shame, obligation, punishment, and manipulation to gain compliance and control.

-Lying, with the intention of evoking sympathy or protection.

- Gaslighting (such as telling someone that something never happened, leaving a person to question their memory, needs, or sanity). Exploitation and revenge seeking, such as telling other people lies about a person to harm their reputation.

- Not considering other people's opinions or involving them in planning and decisions.

- Caring very little for the feelings, needs, experiences, and values of others.

Our purpose in carrying out this research and how the funds raised will be used:

Our intentions are to bridge the gap in public pathology education for survivors, treatment providers, government, and non-government organisations. We seek to provide the most up to date tools designed exclusively for the interactive recovery of survivors of narcissistic abuse. We also intend to provide current and effective advanced prevention, intervention, and active treatment approaches for survivor service providers. Existing domestic violence screening tools, resources, treatment approaches, and even domestic violence agencies in New Zealand exclude narcissistic and relational abuse, which means that many people who are being abused don’t often know that they’re being abused. This allows the abuse and manipulation to continue undetected, and delays identification, treatment, and help which results in increased levels of trauma for the survivor.

The findings of this research will be presented to key government agencies and departments such as the New Zealand Police, the Family Court, the Ministry of Social Development, the Ministry of Health, Mental Health Services, and private allied health services. The research design will involve both quantitative and qualitative methodologies investigating the impact of this invisible and insidious phenomenon on individuals and families, and all recommendations will align with evidence based practice.

The outcome of the research will be utilised to design an easy-to-use product that will enable agencies (including general practitioners, mental health services, and police) to detect narcissistic abuse as early as possible, allowing for timely intervention and effective help for those impacted by narcissistic abuse.

Other ways you can help:

Firstly, we want to acknowledge and send our compassion to everyone who has been affected by the devastation caused by the weather events in past weeks. We also want to acknowledge and send our compassion to everyone and anyone who has been affected by narcissistic abuse.

Do you know someone who may like to be a research participant and have their voice heard as to their experience of narcissistic / emotional abuse? [all participation is private, confidential, voluntary, and completely anonymous].

Please tell them about our research!  If you can't chip in financially we'd love your help with spreading the word about this research. Sharing this campaign on Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, Tiktok, with your family and friends on group chats/ email - your voice and your network can help too.

We would love to hear their thoughts on how individuals, agencies, organisations, and communities can help identify and respond to narcissistic abuse.

How will we spend the money?

We are aiming to raise a minimum of $NZD10,000 to ensure we are delivering a robust product to government and other stakeholders, who will scrutinise the research methods and results to ensure they are valid and reliable [fit for purpose].

How the funds will be allocated: 

- Research design consultation

- Contracting a statistician to analyse and summarise the quantitative data collected

- Qualitative data transcription services

- Product and kit development

Who we are:

We are a small group of therapists in private practice interested in improving the early detection and intervention of narcissistic abuse, with the aim of preventing the severity of psychological impacts we see in our clients.

CONTACT Research Lead - Serafin Upton - [email protected]  / phone 022 406 9398 (Qualifications: Master of International Relations and Human Rights. Master of Social Work. Graduate Diploma [Psychology]. Graduate Certificate Psychotherapy Studies. Bachelor of Arts)

WEBSITE: www.serafinupton.co.nz 

Citations:

Green, A., & Charles, K. (2019). Voicing the Victims of Narcissistic Partners: A Qualitative Analysis of Responses to Narcissistic Injury and Self-Esteem Regulation. SAGE Open, 9(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019846693

Elise, S. (2018). Experiences of narcissistic abuse : an exploration of the effects on women who have had a long term, intimate, relationship with a suspected narcissistic male partner. (Unpublished document submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Applied Practice). Unitec Institute of Technology. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10652/4929

Day, N.J.S., Townsend, M.L. & Grenyer, B.F.S. Living with pathological narcissism: a qualitative study. bord personal disord emot dysregul. 7, 19 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40479-020-00132-8

Day N.J.S., Townsend, M.L., & Grenyer, B.F.S. Pathological narcissism: An analysis of interpersonal dysfunction within intimate relationships. Personal Ment Health. 2022 Aug;16(3):204-216. doi: 10.1002/pmh.1532. Epub 2021 Nov 16. PMID: 34783453; PMCID: PMC9541508.

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