How To Deal With Narcissistic People - Know The Signs.
Here are the seven most common signs of narcissism.
1. He or she displays a lack of empathy. As you spend more time investing in a narcissist, you may notice that he / she seems unable to put him / herself in someone else's place emotionally. This often leads to callous and self serving behaviors. Sometimes dangerous behaviors.
2. A narcissistic personality will often show a willingness to exploit other people. You may well see they have few qualms about stepping on other people if it benefits him / her.
3. Idealized thinking is a prevalent theme. A narcissistic might put others, including you, on a pedestal, only to completely discard or describe you as worthless further down the track. He or she often fantasizes about the perfect love, beauty, or power, and feels he / she has a right to it.
4. Having a grandiose sense of self worth is a very common pattern. Your narcissist might exaggerate his or her accomplishments and expect to associate with other 'high level' people. This most often leads to feelings of superiority, a haughty attitude and / or excessive expectations.
5. A narcissistic personality often will exhibit an excessive sense of entitlement. He or she may feel as if preferential treatment ought to come her / his way as of right.
6. A narcissist will most often will crave admiration and praise to the point that it becomes almost like a drug. This drug has been termed 'narcissistic supply' and the narcissist most often goes to excessive lengths to obtain it.
7. He or she often may be very jealous of the accomplishments of others, and even become angry at the successes of others who then take the focus away from her or him.
Narcissists have such an elevated sense of self-worth that they value themselves as inherently better than others. Yet, they have a fragile self-esteem and cannot handle criticism, and will often try to compensate for this inner fragility by belittling or disparaging others in an attempt to validate their own self-worth. One of the main causes is from severe emotional abuse in childhood. In order to protect themselves against the intolerably painful rejection and isolation that (they imagine) would follow if others recognized their (perceived) defective nature, such people make strong attempts to control others’ views of them and behavior towards them.
To the extent that people are pathologically narcissistic, they can be controlling, blaming, self-absorbed, intolerant of others’ views, unaware of others' needs and of the effects of their behavior on others, and insistent that others see them as they wish to be seen.
Narcissistic individuals use various strategies to protect the self at the expense of others. They tend to devalue, derogate and blame others, and they respond to threatening feedback with anger and hostility.
A pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by five (or more) of the following:
Has a grandiose sense of self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love
Believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)
Requires excessive admiration
Has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations
Is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends
Lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others
Is often envious of others or believes others are envious of him or her
Shows arrogant, haughty behavior or attitudes.