J. Vandeweghe

“As an Empath likely raised by a house that was not understanding of Empaths, your belief system has probably been wired in a way that reduced your self-esteem. Because you were not well-understood growing up, a lot of the beliefs you gained from family, friends, and society itself may have insinuated that you were “broken” and that you needed fixing. In other words, they did not understand you, they were intimidated by your differences, and they wanted to break you down and make you more “normal.” This can lead to low self-esteem as a result of not feeling confident in your ability to express yourself as who you are. You may have even learned to express yourself in a way that is not accurate to who you truly are, causing you to feel dissociated from your own identity. If this happened in adolescence when you were in the process of discovering your identity, this could be particularly damaging to your self-esteem.”
― J. Vandeweghe, Highly Sensitive Empaths and Narcissistic Abuse: The Complete Survival Guide to Understanding Your Gift, the Toxic Relationship to Narcissists and Energy Vampires and How to Protect, Heal and Recover