As the saying goes, we often hurt the ones we love, but many narcissists torture others deliberately, whether to boost their self-esteem or for sadistic enjoyment, or both. Merriam-Webster defines torture as “the infliction of intense pain to coerce, punish,…
Published on HuffPost 11/19/17 Partners, children, and anyone else subjected to the narcissist’s disrespect find themselves working to figure out how to avoid it and gain their elusive respect. If we can just decode the mystery of what they respect,…
Being fundamentally ashamed of themselves, people with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) are experts at playing the shame game with those around them. Often confused with its cousin guilt, which is a feeling of distress about something we have done, shame…
Whether partners, children, other relatives, or friends, narcissist’s caretakers are sustaining forces who enable narcissistic personalities in their delusions, manipulations, and abuse. When the caretaker is a spouse, s/he has likely been seduced by the narcissist, swallowing hook, line, and…
Published on HuffPost, 10/20/17, 1:42 a.m. ET. Those of us exposed to trauma know all too well the experience of distressing nightmares. We may thrash around in bed and struggle to speak or cry out. When we finally reach consciousness,…
Life with a narcissist is like being in a fun house without the fun: Narcissistic mirroring and projection meet you at every turn. At first you may feel dazzled, seduced by what the narcissist is showing you about yourself and…
Why does it seem that narcissists get worse with age? Aging is hard. Losing our vitality and facing our mortality can be scary and painful. But we discover upsides, like reaping the fruits of our personal and professional labors, recognizing…
Terminology relating to narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) has been developed by psychologists and therapists over decades of research as well as by survivors of narcissistic abuse seeking a vocabulary to understand and talk about their experience. This list…
Whether on the playground, in the workplace, or on the home front, we all have experience with jerks: insensitive, self-serving people we’re better off without. Whether they’re self-righteous bigots, snarky critics, or cynical naysayers, they burden our lives with dead…
Children of narcissistic parents, particularly those targeted as scapegoats, experience brain alterations in response to a relentlessly stressful, changing, and unsafe environment. Lacking empathy and constantly needing to bolster their unstable self-esteem at the expense of others, particularly their families,…