🎠What it means to have grown up with a narcissistic sibling
Growing up with a narcissistic sibling meant living in their shadow while parents applied different rules to different children, leaving you feeling like the forgotten or disposable child.
You may have watched your sibling receive praise, attention, and forgiveness that seemed impossible for you to earn, no matter how hard you tried. The same behavior that got them celebrated got you punished, creating a confusing double standard that made you question your own worth and perception of fairness. You learned to study what made them special, trying to copy their strategies or differentiate yourself completely, but never feeling like you could compete with their natural ability to charm and manipulate.
You may have developed an intense need to prove your worth through achievement or perfect behavior, always feeling like you're running a race where someone else got a head start. Your self-worth became tied to comparison, making it difficult to celebrate your own accomplishments without immediately measuring them against others. You learned that love is a limited resource that goes to whoever can perform best for it.