The narcissist conditions your amygdala through their treatment to be on constant alert, even long after the abuse has ended. Your brain scans for cues: “Is this person about to devalue me? Am I about to be abandoned again? Will my truth be denied?” Your body responds before logic can kick in, which is not a weakness it is actual, functional brain damage.
Hippocampus, memory, and learning hub
Now let’s talk about your hippocampus. The hippocampus helps you process and store memories. It is responsible for distinguishing between past and present. Under prolonged abuse, it shrinks a finding confirmed in various MRI studies of trauma survivors, especially those with complex PTSD. When the hippocampus is damaged, you struggle to form new memories. You misremember the past, which is why you experience brain fog, lose a sense of time, and cannot organize your thoughts properly.
That’s why you have the brain clutter. That’s why many survivors of narcissistic abuse say they have memory gaps, confusion, or the inability to remember what happened. You may doubt your timeline, your version of events, or even your sanity. This is worsened by gaslighting, which actively targets your hippocampus by denying your reality, forcing you to reconstruct your memories around the narcissist’s version of events. It becomes difficult to know what is real because your brain’s reality filter has been tampered with.
You may also want to read this:
Words That Destroy a Narcissist
9 Secrets ALL Narcissists Keep
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