Narcissist Therapy Notes
The notes of a therapist’s first session with a patient diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, Sam V, reveal that he presents with anhedonia and dysphoria, complains of people’s stupidity and selfishness, and is a hermit who fears being mocked and ridiculed. Sam is convinced that people envy him and are out to get him, and he feels that his work is not appreciated because of his elitist nature. He is disarmingly self-aware and readily lists his weaknesses and faults, but only in order to preempt risk scrutiny or to fish for compliments.
Spree Shooter’s Psychology
Spray-shooters are typically loners with deficient interpersonal skills, and their dysfunction affects all aspects of their lives. They are in love with violence and blame their anger on their ultimate victims, not themselves. Spray-shooters often target despised minorities as scapegoats, and during the attack, they feel elated and relieved. The shooter usually takes their life as an act of defiance, and the timing of the spray-shooting is often determined by a life crisis.
School Shooting Psychology
Healthy narcissism is common and welcome in adolescence, but it can transform into a malignant form under certain circumstances. Adolescents who are consistently mocked and bullied by peers, role models, and socialization agents are prone to find the core in grandiose fantasies of omnipotence, omniscience, and revenge. Pampered adolescents, who serve as mere extensions of their smothering parents and their unrealistic expectations, are equally liable to develop grandiosity in the sense of entitlement, which are incommensurate with their real-life achievements. In societies that are subjected to terrorism, to crime, to civil unrest, religious strife, economic crisis, immigration, widespread job insecurity, war, rampant corruption, and so on, narcissists come to the fore, they become pillars of the society, and they become
Narcissist: Life as a Film
The narcissist experiences life as a nightmare due to the divergent functionality of the false self and the true self. The true self is the original personality that was suppressed and supplanted by the false self, which is incapable of feeling or experiencing. The narcissist dissociates and cuts off parts of their life and portions of their experiences, leading to detachment and estrangement from themselves. The narcissist lives vicariously through the good offices of the false self, sacrificing their own life to please and appease their master.
Gullible Narcissist Victimized and Abused
Narcissists are more gullible than the average person because they live in a fantasy world of their own making, where they are at the center of the universe. They are prone to magical thinking and believe they are immune to the consequences of their actions. Narcissists feel entitled to everything and are easily duped, cheated, and deceived. They attract abuse and are often targeted by stalkers and persecutors, usually mentally ill people who develop a fixation on the narcissist.
Narcissist as Adrenaline Junkie
Narcissistic supply is the drug of choice for narcissists, and they become addicted to the gratifying effects of it. When they are unable to secure normal narcissistic supply, they resort to abnormal narcissistic supply, such as behaving recklessly or succumbing to substance abuse. Narcissists faced with a chronic state of deficient narcissistic supply become criminals or race car drivers or gamblers or soldiers or investigative journalists or police officers. The prognosis for this particular behavior in narcissism, reckless behavior, adrenaline seeking, thrill seeking, is pretty good since the brain is plastic, and these processes are reversible.
Two Narcissists in a Couple
Two narcissists of the same type cannot maintain a stable, long-term, full-fledged and functional relationship. Two narcissists of different types or opposing types can, often do, maintain long-term, stable and rather happy relationships. There are two main types of narcissists, somatic and cerebral. The somatic type of narcissist relies on his body and sexuality to generate attention, adulation and admiration, while the cerebral narcissist leverages his intellect, his intelligence and his professional achievements to obtain the same. Stable and enduring relationships can and often do develop between dissimilar narcissists.
Victims Become Narcissists: Contagious Narcissism
Victims of narcissistic abuse can become narcissistic themselves, adopting the role of a professional victim. These individuals become self-centered, abusive, and exploitative, and their existence and identity rest solely on their victimhood. This is known as narcissistic contagion or narcissism by proxy, and it is a danger that should be avoided by every victim and survivor of abuse. Once the victim starts to abuse, they never stop, and their abuse becomes indiscriminate and affects everyone around them.
Communal, Prosocial Narcissist: Misanthropic Altruist
Narcissists can be generous and donate to charity, but this is often a way to enhance their sense of grandiosity and control over others. They use their giving as a bait to lure people into their lair and manipulate them into subservient compliance. Narcissistic altruism is an abusive defense mechanism that avoids real intimacy and renders all relationships business-like, using the currency of money. Even the narcissist’s benevolence is spiteful, sadistic, punitive, and distancing.
Giving Narcissist Second Chance
Narcissists do not provide closure in relationships and will stalk, cajole, beg, promise, persuade, and ultimately succeed in doing the impossible to get you back. The narcissist will cast all interactions with you in terms of conflicts or competitions to be won. If you have resumed contact because you are manifestly dependent on the narcissist financially or emotionally, the narcissist will pounce on your frailty and exploit your fragility to the maximum. Ultimately, the narcissist will write the inevitable cycle of idealization and devaluation.