Self-destruction as Narcissistic Supply: Narcissist’s Self-denial and Self-defeat
Narcissists frustrate others to satisfy their masochistic tendencies and sadistic urges. By withholding love, sex, and intimacy, they torment those around them while obstructing their own gratification. Self-denial, self-destruction, and self-defeat buttress the narcissist’s sense of superiority and uniqueness, as they prove to themselves that they are the strongest and can overcome powerful desires and emotions. These behaviors and choices engender narcissistic supply, as they demonstrate the narcissist’s independence from society, nature, and even themselves.
Grandiosity as Cognitive Bias (Kruger-Dunning Effect)
Grandiosity in narcissism is an inflated self-image that is divorced from reality and self-perception. It is a set of cognitive biases constructed on a foundation of cognitive deficits that emanate from a flawed reality test. The narcissist perceives reality wrongly and lacks empathy, making it impossible for them to anticipate others’ reactions, needs, and preferences. The narcissist’s grandiosity is a derivative phenomenon that relies on cognitive biases, such as the Dunning-Kruger effect, where they overestimate themselves and underestimate others.
Narcissist’s Projection, Projective Identification and Victim’s Introjective Identification
In this video, Professor Sam Vaknin discusses the concept of projective identification in narcissism. He explains that the narcissist’s false self is grandiose and to maintain this self-image, the narcissist must ignore or deny certain emotions, thoughts, traits, impulses, behaviors, and qualities that contradict this self-perception. The narcissist then projects these onto other people, attributing positive or negative traits to them. Projective identification involves forcing the target of the projection to conform to the contents of the projection, forcing someone to actually become someone else, forcing someone to behave in ways prescribed by the narcissist. The narcissist uses projection and projective identification to manipulate inner objects, to force inner constructs, inner representations, inner avatars to behave in certain ways.
Narcissist: You All Exist Only in My Mind (Hive or Swarm False Self and Ego Functions)
Narcissists have a dysfunctional true self, which is introverted and comatose. The ego, which performs certain functions in healthy people, is dormant in narcissists. Narcissists need feedback from the outside world to perform basic ego functions, which is what is called narcissistic supply. The false self is a collage of reflections, a patchwork of outsourced information, and is a kind of hive self.
Coping Styles: Narcissist Abuses “Loved” Ones Despite Abandonment Anxiety
Narcissists abuse their loved ones to decrease their abandonment anxiety, restore their sense of grandiosity, and test their partner’s loyalty. Abuse also serves as a form of behavior modification, as it signals to the partner that they need to modify their behavior to avoid abuse. Coping styles for dealing with abuse include submissiveness, conflicting, mirroring, collusion, and displacement, but some of these styles can be harmful and should be avoided.
Potemkin Narcissists: Fake It Till You Make It!
There are two types of narcissists: Potemkin narcissists who derive ample narcissistic supply from mere appearances and narcissists of substance who strive for meaningful careers and creating things of value. Potemkin narcissists cultivate a following by emphasizing their alleged distinct character traits and create an empty brand. They are not interested in people except as instruments of instant gratification and sources of narcissistic supply. Narcissists of substance are concerned with leaving their mark on the world and creating a body of work of lasting value. They are workaholics and in relentless pursuit of fame, celebrity, and glory.
Golden Child and Scapegoat Black Sheep: Narcissistic Parent’s Projected Splitting
Narcissistic parents often cultivate their children as sources of narcissistic supply, with the golden child being idolized and the scapegoat child being neglected and even abused. This discriminatory behavior is due to the narcissistic parent’s projected splitting, which involves the inability to integrate contradictory qualities of the same object into a coherent picture. The narcissistic parent splits their personality into good and bad traits and projects the good aspects onto the golden child while projecting the bad aspects onto the scapegoat child. This pattern of behavior becomes lifelong and can lead to emotional incest and even outright incest.
Recognise Me? Ken Heilbrunn’s Take on the Narcissist
Sam Vaknin discusses his journey to becoming an expert on narcissism and the lack of information available on the subject when he first began studying it. He explains how he had to invent a new language to describe the complexities of pathological narcissism and coined terms such as “narcissistic abuse” and “empathy” to describe the kind of empathy that narcissists and psychopaths possess. Vaknin also reads an insightful essay by Ken Heilbrunn, MD, which describes the narcissist’s behavior and mindset.
Narcissism Fridge Magnets
Professor Sam Vaknin provides 15 quotes on narcissism, including the narcissist’s obsession with themselves, their use of language as a weapon, and their need for adoration from a submissive partner. The narcissist is also described as holding their followers in contempt, hating themselves deep down, and developing paranoid narratives when their defense mechanisms fail. The quotes emphasize the destructive nature of narcissism and its impact on both the narcissist and those around them.
So, Is My Narcissist a Covert Narcissist? Nonsense vs. Scholarship
Covert narcissists are individuals who suffer from an in-depth sense of inferiority, have a marked propensity towards feeling ashamed, and are shy and fragile. They are unable to genuinely depend on others or trust them, suffer from chronic envy of others, and have a lack of regard for generational boundaries. Covert narcissists are not goal-orientated, have shallow vocational commitment, and are forgetful of details, especially names. Inverted narcissists are a subspecies of covert narcissism and are self-centered, sensitive, vulnerable, and defensive, sometimes hostile and paranoid.