The Narcissist

• THEY REFUSE RESPONSIBILITY.

It's not their fault. Not EVER. It's always your fault. His fault. Her fault. To a narcissist, it's not their fault they hurt you, it's your fault for being hurt-able. If your feelings are hurt, it's not their fault; it's your fault - for having feelings. (You may be told that you're "choosing" to feel bad about the hurtful things they've done, and that it's the wrong "choice".) If caught doing something insensitive or selfish, they will tell you they "had to" do it because of someone or something else. If you imply that anything is their responsibility, they give you excuses and lies, and often, if those fail to work, they will finally make it clear that the bottom line is they simply don't care because they don't have to, and the fact that you care is just unnecessary or wrong. From their perspective, you shouldn't care -- you should get it right like they do, and be more like they are. Uncaring.

• THEY LIE.

Narcissists lie to make themselves look good. They lie to get out of emotional responsibility. They lie to manipulate. They lie to gain influence. They lie out of habit. Life is a game to narcissists - a game they have to think they're winning - and truth is one casualty in their game plan. The only time a narcissist has any interest in telling the truth is when it will serve them or cost them nothing to do so. The rest of the time, they don't consider it necessary or important to be all that honest. Honesty can impede their self-gratification and compromise their powerful persona, and they don't like that. To narcissists the truth is frequently "flexible" and optional. There's no such thing as an honest narcissist.

• THEY LOOK DOWN ON YOU.

Narcissists have to make themselves feel bigger by convincing themselves others are smaller by comparison. They're no strangers to being condescending, snobby, clique-ish, elitist and superior; however, they may be very good at hiding their disdain to prevent a loss of popularity, which narcissists know brings them power. Narcissists with money look down on the working class. Narcissists in the working class look down on those with more money. Educated narcissists dismiss the opinions of those who have no degree. Narcissists with no degree claim educated people don't actually know anything. Whatever narcissists HAVE (or think they have) is what they use to look down on others WITH. No-one else's background,appearance, values, political persuasion, school, preferences, religion, way of life, profession or opinions are ever any good or worthy of their respect unless they themselves value and/or possess the same. If you think or choose differently from a narcissist, you're "wrong", and they're "right".

• THEY'RE TWO-FACED.

Narcissists have two faces -- their real face and their stage face. And neither is anything like the other. Which one you see will depend on how long you've known them. Narcissists can be very charming and know how to gain favor. Anyone who doesn't know a narcissist well will tell you the narcissist is one of the greatest people they've ever met! They believe this is one of the most intelligent, kindest, most interesting, funny, agreeable, most attractive, talented or accomplished people ever. They may wish they themselves had it so "together" or were so popular. However, anyone who knows that same narcissist better (family members, longtime coworkers, etc) will tell you the narcissist is one of the most horribly frustrating and toxic people they know, and the mere mention of their name makes them feel uneasy, angry, frustrated or otherwise unhappy. Being the only one who is experiencing a narcissist's real face, while all other family members or coworkers can still only see the narcissist's stage face is a very lonely, painful and frustrating place to be. Thankfully, the number of people who can see through the facade tends to increase with time.

• THEY'RE VINDICTIVE.

If you dare to question a narcissist or request things like healthy boundaries and honesty, you're going to become public enemy number one. The "Mr. or Ms. Wonderful" mask immediately comes off, and there is no level they will not stoop to in order to "punish" you. They have myriad ways of attempting this; some are covert, and some are open and obvious. The narcissist has a seemingly inexhaustible obsession for making people who cross them "pay". Once they set their sights on you, you're a permanent enemy, and their seething spite will feel as intense years down the road as it did when it first began. The length of time they can keep up the full intensity of their hatred for you and their campaign to exact revenge is absolutely dumbfounding to non-narcissistic people.

The Narcissist's Dilemma: They Can Dish It Out, But . . .

When criticized, narcissists show themselves woefully incapable of retaining any emotional poise, or receptivity. And it really doesn't much matter whether the nature of that criticism is constructive or destructive. They just don't seem to be able to take criticism, period. At the same time, these disturbed individuals demonstrate an abnormally developed capacity to criticize others

To better grasp why narcissists are so ready to attack others and so unable to deal with being attacked themselves, it's useful to understand something about their childhood. People aren't born narcissistic--it's powerful environmental influences that cause them to become so.

Briefly, in growing up future narcissists had many reasons to doubt whether they were good enough. Neglected and ignored, or constantly disparaged and berated by their parents, they were held to unrealistically high standards of behavior. And their caretakers were quick to judge them whenever they failed to live up to such unreasonable, perfectionist expectations. As a result, they couldn't help but feel defective, not okay, and insecure, doubting their fundamental worth as humans. In most instances, neither did they feel cared about or wanted--as though they were factory seconds, to be tolerated but not respected or loved. Anxiously experiencing their bond to their parents as tenuous (for regardless of how hard they tried, they never seemed able to acquire their approval or validation), in their head they cultivated an imaginary "ideal self" that could get the parental acceptance--even adulation--they craved. If narcissistic adults project an air of importance, superiority, entitlement, and grandiosity, it's a pronounced reaction (or over-reaction) to the massive self-doubt that, frankly, they keep well-hidden beneath the self-satisfied façade they present to others.

The narcissist's marked lack of accurate empathy for the feelings, wants, and needs of others is all too well known. But what is less appreciated is that this deficiency represents an unfortunate consequence of their growing up so preoccupied with their own frustrated needs--and emotional distress generally--that they could never develop sufficient sensitivity to others. Intensely driven to succeed, or at least see themselves as successful, their focus inevitably became myopic, pathologically self-centred

.The "injury" results from their parents' deficiencies in being able to adequately nurture them, and so make them feel loved--a prerequisite for self-love. Which is why they need constantly to prove themselves by arrogantly claiming a superiority over others that, alone, can make themselves feel "good enough" to be loved . . . but which, ironically, serves in time only to alienate these others.

It's precisely this need to be viewed as perfect, superlative, or infallible that makes them so hypersensitive to criticism. And their typical reaction to criticism, disagreement, challenges-or sometimes even the mere suggestion that they consider doing something differently-can lead to the "narcissistic rage" that is another of their trademarks. To protect their delicate ego in the face of such intensely felt danger, they're decidedly at risk for going ballistic against their perceived adversary.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^          DOES IT SOUND FAMILIAR JOHN?         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

DESCRIBES YOU TO A 'T' IF YOU ASK ME!

• THEY PROJECT PSYCHOLOGICALLY.

Many mentally disordered individuals project frequently. Narcissists, however, are some of the most actively and severely projecting people encountered. Ever full of accusations and criticisms, the most crazy-making thing about most of the narcissist's claims is that YOU are doing exactly what THEY are doing. (Projection.) Have they just lied to you? Well, you're about to be called dishonest. Are they cheating you out of an opportunity? You're going to get the finger pointed at you for being sneaky. And you can't say a word to them about something hurtful they have done, because that makes you an abuser - of them. You can't give them anything but glowing feedback without their raging at you, but you'll be the one constantly criticized severely and then called freakishly over sensitive if you show any feelings about it. And if they say so, it's law -- you don't know what you're talking about.

Things Narcissists Do

• THEY SMEAR PEOPLE WHO OPPOSE THEM.

Narcissists are allergic to healthy boundaries and fairness. If you question the insensitive things they do or put any limits whatsoever on their bad behavior, you will be targeted for social, professional, or personal obliteration. Whatever narcissists perceive to be your psychological or situational "weak spots" will be their prime targets. For instance, if the narcissist knows that your greatest fear is social ridicule, that will be the main focus of the smear campaign. If he or she knows that recently, you made a mistake for which you feel guilty, that will be used against you. Narcissists know that the more effectively they can pinpoint your insecurities or flaws, the more successful they will be in eroding your confidence and your influence. And if they manage to do that, they stand a good chance of getting back the power they planned to do whatever they pleased with before you "got in their way".


Narcissists Profile Attributes From A-Z

Arrogance
Attention-seeking
Bad boundaries
Blacklisting
Blackmail
Blame
Boot Licking
Bragging
Bullying
Can dish it out, but can't take it
Character Assassination
Criticism
Coldhearted
Conniving
Controlling
Crafty
Cruel
Cunning
Cutting remarks
Deceitful
Demands
Dictatorial
Disdain
Dishonorable
Disinterest
Does not tolerate criticism
Double standards
Drama-baiting
Egomania
Engulfing
Entitlement
Envy
Faking
False Apologies
Fragile Egos
Gaslighting
Grandiose
Greed
Haughtiness
Holier than thou
Hurtful
Hypersensitivity
Ignoring
Immaturity
Imperious
Insecurities
Insensitivity
Invalidation
Irreciprocity
Jealous
Judgment
Lack of empathy
Lying 
Manipulating
Martyrdom
Name Dropping
Needy
Oppression
Oversensitive
Pettiness
Phoniness
Plays victim
Possessive
Power plays 
Prejudices
Projection
Punitive
Pushy
Put-downs
Rage
Retaliation
Rudeness
Scapegoating
Self-centered
Seething
Setups
Small-minded
Smarmy
Smug
Snobby
Spitefulness
Swindling
Takes all the credit
Tantrums
Threats
Triangulation
Tricks
Two-facedness
Ultimatums
Uncooperativeness
Unempathic
Vanity
Vicious
Vindictiveness
Wheedling
Whining
Yelling
Zealotry