Did Growing Up with a Narcissist Steal Your Senses? (And Lead to Addictions?)

Imagine this… You’re a child, full of curiosity, emotions, and a natural sense of how the world works. You trust your senses — what you see, hear, feel, and know. You react to the world with innocent honesty, because you’re supposed to.

But then, something shifts.

Your parent is a narcissist. And with that comes a constant wave of confusing, distorted realities — one where your senses are constantly in question.

Did that really happen?

Am I really feeling this?

Should I trust what I see?

It’s like you were born with the most beautiful sensory system, but over time, it started malfunctioning.

The more you grew, the more you learned that what you felt didn’t matter.

What you saw wasn’t real.

And what you heard? Well, that was just a lie waiting to be uncovered.

And you didn’t just “lose your senses” — you were taught not to trust them.

The Narcissistic Parenting Playbook: “Doubt Everything”

When you grow up with a narcissistic parent, your world is turned upside down, inside out, and completely distorted. Your natural senses — the ones that help you navigate the world safely and effectively — get overwhelmed by manipulation, gaslighting, and emotional neglect.

Let’s break it down:

• Sight: You’re constantly shown a version of reality that isn’t accurate. “Oh, that didn’t happen the way you remember it.” “I never said that.” Your eyes see the truth, but you’re taught to question it. It’s like your vision gets blurry.
• Hearing: You hear words, but they don’t align with actions. “You’re so selfish for needing affection,” or “You’re exaggerating everything!” Over time, you start doubting your own ears. Was that gaslighting? Or was I being unreasonable? Your hearing starts to fail when it’s inconvenient for them.
• Smell: A keen sense of smell is supposed to keep us safe, alert us to danger, or simply allow us to enjoy the world. Narcissists, however, often gaslight you into believing that something smells perfectly fine — even if it stinks. “It’s not that bad. Stop overreacting.” You lose trust in your instincts, and that sense of danger or awareness dulls.
• Feeling & Breathing: One of the most insidious parts of narcissistic abuse is the way it attacks your emotional connection to yourself. You’re told to suppress your feelings, ignore your emotional needs, or completely disconnect from your body. This emotional numbness can lead to physical symptoms: shallow breathing, tightness in the chest, a constant feeling of being “disconnected” from the world. Your body is crying for help, but you’ve learned to tune it out.

So, What Happens When You Lose Touch With Your Senses?

Here’s where it gets interesting:

When you’ve been taught to distrust your own senses, your body and mind still crave something that feels real. And that’s where addictions sneak in.

You’re not addicted because you’re weak — you’re addicted because you’re trying to feel something that’s been lost.

Let me break it down:

• Addiction to substances (alcohol, drugs, etc.): These give you an easy way to numb the confusion, the pain, or the overwhelm of not trusting your body and your senses. They offer temporary relief. They offer a feeling of control when everything inside feels out of control.
• Addiction to relationships: Narcissistic abuse itself creates a toxic rollercoaster of highs and lows. When you’ve been taught that love and attention are earned through suffering, you may find yourself repeating the same toxic patterns in relationships, seeking validation in unhealthy ways.
• Addiction to work or perfectionism: Without a clear sense of self, you might overcompensate by obsessing over external validation, like career success, physical appearance, or achievements. These external things become your “proof” of worth when your internal sense of value has been wrecked.
• Addiction to food or other coping mechanisms: When your body is the last thing you’re allowed to trust, food becomes a way to feel something — comfort, numbness, distraction, control.

So, What Can You Do About It? Reclaiming Your Senses (And Breaking the Addiction Cycle)

The good news? It’s never too late to start re-learning your senses.

It takes time, and it takes practice, but you can absolutely reclaim your connection to yourself. You can rebuild your trust in your instincts, your emotional needs, and your body.

Here are some practical ways to do that:

1. Mindfulness: Practice simply being present. Take time each day to sit in stillness and connect with what you see, hear, and feel. No judgments. Just experience it.
2. Journaling: Write down your thoughts, feelings, and senses every day. Pay attention to how your body feels in response to different situations. Reconnect to your intuition and let it speak freely without fear of judgment.
3. Body Awareness: Try practices like yoga, dance, or deep breathing exercises. These activities can help you reconnect to your physical body and start trusting your sensory experience again.
4. Grounding Exercises: Stand barefoot on the earth, focus on the textures, smells, and sounds around you. Reconnect to the sensory world with intention.
5. Therapy: Seek professional help to process the trauma. Therapy can help you unravel the knots in your sensory system and guide you back to emotional and sensory balance.

In Conclusion: You’re Not Broken — You’re Just Relearning.

Growing up with a narcissistic parent can leave you feeling like you’ve lost touch with your senses. But here’s the truth: you’re not broken. You’re simply relearning how to trust your body, your intuition, and your instincts again.

Addiction is often a symptom of disconnection from yourself, but it’s not the end of your story.

It’s the beginning of a new, more empowered chapter where you reclaim everything that was stolen from you — and trust me, once you start reconnecting with your senses, the need for addiction fades away.

You’ve got this. 🌱