I am a psychiatrist and here are some signs of narcissistic abuse in relationships

An expert has examined some of the signs of narcissistic abuse in relationships — including apologizing even when it’s not your fault and losing your trust.

Dr Sohom Das, 44, is a forensic psychiatrist based in London, as well as a YouTube content creator. On his channel A Psych for Sore MindsDr. Das covers a range of mental health and crime topics.

As a professional forensic psychiatrist and expert witness, Dr Das has “personally assessed hundreds of patients in prisons, locked down psychiatric wards and courts across the UK,” according to his YouTube biography.

In a recent video on the channel, titled Narcissistic Abusive Relationship: What Are The Signs?, he discussed narcissistic relationships and outlined some of the characteristics of such couples.

According to the psychiatrist, the predominant sign that you are in a narcissistic relationship relates to your self-confidence.

In the video, he explains, “First of all, there’s a lot of loss of trust, so you don’t want to talk to strangers or even your friends and family. In fact, you don’t even want to leave the house.’

This consequently has implications for other areas of behavior, he explains, noting, “Another indication of this loss of confidence is that you have difficulty making decisions.

“You’re always doubting and doubting yourself, even outside the context of the relationship.”

This can extend to problems making decisions at work, for example, he says.

According to Dr Das, ‘This happens because the perpetrator has gradually eroded your self-esteem and your self-confidence and another side that somehow goes into it is always thinking that problems are your fault.

“So it’s kind of an acceptance of this blame shift. Again, I’m not just talking about decisions or behaviors within the relationship, but in general.

“So, for example, you blame yourself for your troublesome friends and family who, like I said, are really just looking out for you. You’re kind of brainwashed to think that way.

The next sign mentioned by the psychiatrist is apologizing, often even when it’s not your fault – especially to the perpetrator.

Dr. Sohom Das (pictured) is a London-based forensic psychiatrist who also creates YouTube content on his channel A Psych for Sore Minds

“You find yourself walking on eggshells and you spend most of your energy trying not to provoke anger or arguments from your partner,” he explains.

The final sign Dr. Das outlines in the video is feeling isolated from others.

Describing this in the video, he says victims in such relationships will experience feelings of isolation and withdrawal, which he says make them feel “lonely and… [they’ve] lost [their] sense of identity’.

Doctor Das says: ‘[This is] because you spend so much time alone or with your perpetrator that there is nothing left of your social life.’

A number of viewers left comments on the video, and some shared their own experiences.

A number of viewers took to the comments section of the video to share their own experiences of narcissistic abuse

One of them wrote, “I definitely lost my identity at some point. I realized that I couldn’t even remember the things I liked, did, etc. It took some time to remember who I was and years of recovery I’m still learning.”

Another added, “I had these signs due to a toxic workplace… I appreciate how clearly and succinctly you identify these signs.”

And another commenter said, “The fear everyone we encounter is just like our narcissistic relatives. Coming from a large family where narcissism was rampant, it became like swimming in a pool of alligators. So in the end I recreated the dynamic… Sometimes we don’t even know we recreated the dynamic.

“And I’m famous to everyone who knows me for apologizing compulsively. I’ve grown a lot and do that less and less, but under stress it comes to the surface again. We must learn to be gracious and merciful to ourselves.’

Dr. Sohom Das is on Twitter, InstagramAnd TikTokas well as YouTube.