Re-integrating the Narcissistic Personality
The lack of emotional self-acceptance is a problem that cannot be solved by cognitive substitutes. The root of the problem is the inner dialogue between disparaging voices and countervailing truths to the contrary. The disordered dialogue, the dysfunctional, the non-performing dialogue, involves widely disparate, different interlocutors. The first step is to clearly identify the various segments that together, however incongruently, constitute the personality.
Narcissist: I want it ALL and NOW! (Delayed Gratification and Entitlement)
Narcissists cannot delay gratification and are creatures of the here and now. They cannot form stable relationships, maintain a job or career path, or accumulate material wealth. The narcissist’s life is characterized by jerky, episodic careers, relationships, marriages, and domiciles. The narcissist is possessed of a low self-esteem and is unable to love himself or others. The narcissist’s interpersonal relationships are deformed and sick, and he recreates conflicts with his primary objects in his marriage.
Inner Voices, Narcissism, and Codependence
Narcissists and codependents possess introgets, which are inner voices that are mostly negative and sadistic. These voices enhance the narcissist’s underlying ego destiny, rendering them unhappy with who they are and discontent with the way they act. The narcissist’s sense of self-worth is affected by their sadistic and uncompromising superego, which affects their sense of self-worth and worthiness, self-knowledge, and self-confidence. The narcissist’s whole life is an attempt to satisfy the demands of their inner tribunal and to prove their judgment wrong, which is at the root of their unresolved and unresolvable conflicts.
Narcissist’s False Narrative and False Self
The narcissist constructs a false self that is godlike and seeks admiration, adulation, and attention from others. They create a narrative of their life that is partly confabulated to prove the veracity of their grandiose claims. However, reality intrudes, and a gap opens between their self-perception and their pedestrian existence. The narcissist copes with this by denying reality and inventing a new narrative that accommodates the intrusive data.
Amnesiac Narcissist’s Selective Memory: It’s All About Narcissistic Supply!
The author describes his experience of dissociative amnesia, where he has no recollection of events, people, or emotions. He questions why some memories are retained while others are discarded, and concludes that he only retains information that can help him elicit narcissistic supply from others. He alters his biography to suit his audience and forgets what he has said soon after. He feels like a series of still frames, trapped in a two-dimensional existence, and craves adulation from his audience.
Narcissist: Set Firm Personal Boundaries!
Personal boundaries are essential to protect oneself from abusive behavior. It is important to set boundaries clearly and communicate them to others, including the consequences of violating them. It is crucial to enforce boundaries consistently and involve law enforcement or friends and colleagues if necessary. One should be vigilant, doubting, and not gullible, and expose the abuser to their collaborators.
Misinformation: Covert vs. Classic Narcissist
Covert narcissists are not cunning or manipulative, but rather suppress their true nature due to a lack of confidence. They are their own worst critics and often feel guilty and ashamed of their aggressive urges. Covert narcissists team up with classic narcissists but secretly resent and envy them. Inverted narcissists are a type of covert narcissist who are self-centered, sensitive, vulnerable, and defensive, and crave relationships with narcissists despite any abuse inflicted on them.
Somatic Narcissist: Not Sex, But Pursuit and Conquest
Somatic narcissists derive their narcissistic supply from the process of securing sex, rather than the act itself. They are often health freaks, bodybuilders, or hypochondriacs, and regard their bodies as objects to be sculpted and honed. The cerebral narcissist, on the other hand, is haughty and uses their intellect or knowledge to secure admiration. Both types are auto-erotic and prefer masturbation to interactive sex. It is a mistake to assume type constancy, as the narcissist swings between their dominant and recessive types.
Narcissist’s Victim: NO CONTACT Rules
Professor Sam Vaknin advises victims of narcissism and psychopathy to maintain as much contact with their abuser as the courts, counselors, evaluators, mediators, guardians, or law enforcement officials mandate. However, with the exception of this minimum mandated by the courts, decline any and all gratuitous contact with the narcissist or psychopath. Avoiding contact with the abuser is a form of setting boundaries, and setting boundaries is a form of healing. Be firm, be resolute, but be polite and civil.
Words which Describe the Narcissist (ADD YOUR OWN!)
The text is a list of adjectives describing different types of personalities, ranging from social and gregarious to unfriendly and abusive. The author encourages readers to add their own words to the list and mentions the possibility of creating a video compilation of the contributions.