Karyl McBride

Daughters of narcissistic mothers usually do not see their own goodness enough to recognize envy for what it is, but believe they have done something wrong once again.

It always seemed like if I made mistakes, I was more accepted by my mother. When I did well, she always had something bad to say. Or she would make comments about me getting too high on myself. This hurt so much. Now it doesn’t matter really what she says. I have worked so hard on individuating from her because I now know that she is not a reliable source to define me anymore. This finally makes sense

In Kristal’s case, the friend had good boundaries, but what she asked, although not inappropriate, triggered in Kristal feelings of being a burden on her mother, and she had a strong reaction that lasted for several days.