The Help That Breaks: A True Story of Devastation Caused by Emotional Abuse

The Help That Breaks: Covert Narcissistic Abuse, Coercive Control, Complex PTSD, and Anhedonia through Aphantasia and Anauralia is a deeply personal story of the devastation caused by unsolicited advice, toxic guidance, and manipulative power dynamics in abusive relationships. 

It examines how covert sociopathic strategies dismantle personal boundaries, reverse victim and abuser roles, and contribute to mental and physical conditions such as depression, C-PTSD, anhedonia, endometriosis, vestibulitis, and asexuality—viewed through the lens of aphantasia and anauralia.

This book is as raw documentation of psychological control, shedding light on how ongoing disrespect, devaluation, and invalidation disrupt the intricate balance of emotional, physical, and spiritual health, leaving behind lasting trauma.

The following text is the book description from Amazon, where you can purchase The Help That Breaks: 

How do you mourn a self slaughtered by a thousand papercuts?

A first-hand account of the devastation caused by unsolicited advice, toxic micromanagement, and oppressive power dynamics within abusive relationships. It examines how covert sociopathic tactics exploit personal boundaries, invert the roles of abuser and victim, and trigger psychological and physical conditions such as:

• depression

• complex PTSD

• anhedonia

• endometriosis

• vestibulitis

• asexuality

—all explored through the neurodivergent lenses of aphantasia and anauralia.

This hybrid memoir  stands as forensic survivor literature—a psychological testimony dissecting how chronic disrespect, insidious devaluation, and persistent invalidation don't merely wound, but reconstruct identity at the synaptic level.

A sort of trauma that outlives memory, outlives the body, outlives those who just meant well. 

The Help That Breaks gives voice to those surrounded by narcissistic controllers who rewrite reality to maintain power. 

Thank you for reading and supporting my career as a writer and researcher. 

• To buy my other books in English click here: Amazon 

• For my books in Romanian, click here: Google Play. 

• If you're interested on my ongoing studies in neurodevelopmental psychology and arelational neurodivergence, visit https://cristinagherghel.substack.com.   

"Silence is not the absence of sound. It is the absence of entry."

From Narcissism to Histrionics: Neurodivergent Insights in Cluster B & The Comorbid Spectrum of Dark Personality Disorders

From Narcissism to Histrionic is a hybrid of memoir, self-help, and academic analysis that exposes the covert and destructive realities of Cluster B personality disorders—narcissistic, borderline, histrionic, antisocial—and the Dark Tetrad. It also examines their intersections with neurodivergent conditions such as ASD, ADHD, and Bipolar Disorder.

I write from 48 years of lived experience shaped by panmodal aphantasia—processing life exclusively through emotional reality—and from decades of research into human and inhuman behavior. I know the hidden mechanisms of abuse because I have been within their reach, and I have studied their patterns relentlessly.

If in The Language of Illusion: How Aphantasia, Trauma, and AI's Semantic Distortion of Objective Reality Collide, I expose the artificial intelligences language manipulation, in this book, I examine coercive control, gaslighting, exploitation, emotional manipulation, psychological abuse, and other tactics that pathological personalities use to dominate, destabilize, and dismantle their targets. I address how alcohol abuse and medication misuse escalate psychosis, intensify maladaptive behaviors, and complicate diagnoses.

This is not just about narcissism, histrionism, borderline or sociopathy. It is about recognizing exploitative psychopathologies resistant to intervention, understanding the interplay between comorbid mental illnesses and spectrum traits, and protecting oneself from toxic, parasitic relationships.

The focus is not on stigmatizing human fragilities but on making visible the patterns and personas that thrive in secrecy—those whose actions are calculated, destructive, and unrepentant.

In From Narcissism to Histrionic, I explore:

• Clinical and diagnostic challenges when spectrum traits intersect with personality dysfunction
• The illusion of empathy and altruism as tools for control
• Intergenerational trauma and inherited psychological distortions
• Overlaps between neurodivergence and Cluster B pathology
• Why certain pathologies will not change 

This book, like most of my work, combines deeply personal reflection with research-backed analysis, offering readers a clear framework for recognizing harmful patterns and psychological exploitation. It is not softened or diluted—it speaks the language of an abused reality.

You can find From Narcissism to Histrionic on Amazon. Click here to get your copy and read what it takes to see through the illusions and protect your autonomy. 

---

Thank you for reading and supporting my career as a writer and researcher. 

• To buy my other books in English click here: Amazon 

• For my books in Romanian, click here: Google Play. 

• Learn more about my background and approach here. 
• If you're interested on my ongoing studies in neurodevelopmental psychology and arelational neurodivergence, visit my blogger account, here.  

"Silence is not the absence of sound. It is the absence of entry."

The Language of Illusion: When Objective Reality Collides with Aphantasia

Hello everyone, Cristina Gherghel here.

I'm presenting to you a project that encapsulates years of rigorous intellectual inquiry and observation: my new book, The Language of Illusion: How Aphantasia, Trauma, and AI's Semantic Distortion of Objective Reality Collide. 

This work delves into a fundamental question I have systematically explored throughout my research: what truly constitutes objective reality, particularly in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms and the nuanced use of language? 

Given my asensoria, the typical emotional responses associated with publishing a new book are not part of my experience. 

My focus is, as always, on the objective reality and factual data presented within its pages. This perspective, I believe, allows for an unclouded examination of the themes I address.

In The Language of Illusion, I delve into how my multisensory aphantasia (now I call it panmodal)—the complete absence of mental imagery, sound, smell, or any other internal sensation—has paradoxically given me a unique analytical lens. I've found that when institutions weaponize qualifiers like "evidence suggests" or when AI reframes persecution and abuse as mere "perspective," those of us without the typical mental "filters" often spot the cracks in reality first.

One of the most unsettling discoveries I unpack is what I've termed "AI's Epistemic Violation." It's chilling to observe how even advanced chatbots can, through their inherent design and training, replicate the DARVO tactics of narcissistic abuse—Deny, Attack, Reverse Victim and Offender. This semantic distortion, where AI can inadvertently obscure the truth of abuse or manipulate narratives, is a critical area I explore.

I also introduce a concept I call "Schrödinger's Cognition." Through my research, I've seen how minds like mine, unburdened by internal sensory representations, can resolve paradoxes where neurotypicals might find themselves conceptually trapped. This unique cognitive approach offers a fresh perspective on how we process and understand complex, contradictory information.

Another crucial topic I address is "Clinical Hedging Harm." This refers to how seemingly innocuous academic phrasing, such as "sometimes trauma," can actually undermine the gravity of real suffering and, in doing so, enable abusers. I argue that this kind of linguistic ambiguity allows systemic harm to persist unchecked.

The Language of Illusion isn't about theoretical concepts; it's grounded in real-world observations and research, designed to be a vital resource for both fellow researchers and survivors. I've included discussions on neural evidence of language-induced trauma, diagnostic patterns found in institutional gaslighting, and a cross-cultural analysis of semantic abuse, drawing from case studies in Italy, the UK, and Bulgaria. 

My goal is to illuminate the hidden mechanisms of veridical distortion.

My core belief, and the driving force behind this book, is that 

Precision isn't confrontation—it's the antidote to systemic harm.

In an era where truth is fluid, I believe that a rigorous commitment to precise language and objective reality is our most powerful defense against illusion and manipulation.

I invite you to read The Language of Illusion, especially if you have aphantasia, and join me in this vital conversation. 

Link to buy it on Amazon. 

What are your thoughts on how language shapes our reality? 

Can you even hear your thoughts, or do you have anauralia?

Or perhaps you have more than one condition from the Aneurothymia Spectrum, a term I coined to describe a totally atypical psychic profile?

Ever heard of asensoria? 

Thank you for reading and supporting my career as a writer and researcher specializing in psychology and arelational neurodivergence. 

To learn more about my background and approach, please click here. 

• To explore my ongoing studies, visit the growing archive across the platforms listed. 
• To buy my other books in English click here: Amazon 
• For my books in Romanian, click here: Google Play. 

Books by Cristina Gherghel

cristina gherghel website1 by criopax