Narcissistic Personality 2nd Edition

He feels entitled to special treatment. He is unable to empathize with the feelings of others. He is often envious of those who are more accomplished or successful.

I have previously written here about Narcissistic personality disorder. However after reading an interesting article by Scott Barry Kaufman in the Huffingtonpost, I felt to read and write more on this very interesting personality disorder.

(Where appropriate replace 'he' with 'she').

There is narcissist in every single one of us. But the narcissistic personality exhibits a grandiose sense of self-regard, expecting their superior talent, ability, and intelligence to be recognized even in the absence of commensurate performance. He is preoccupied with fantasies of
almost infinite success, power, brilliance, beauty, or accomplishment.

He has a sense of specialness and affiliates only with others who are likewise special.
He actively requires admiration and seeks to evoke displays of admiration from others.

Narcissists have a tough job because perfection is viewed as either all or nothing: If you are not perfect, you are imperfect, and if you are imperfect, you are nothing. This ego ideal must then be projected as a public persona whom others must appease with sacrifices of admiration and submission. Anything short of this ideal tarnishes the self,squashing perfection outright and leading to chronic feelings of emptiness or shame.

Narcissists cannot tolerate any flaw, however small, in the perfection of the self. Because of this intolerance, narcissists must find ways of dealing with information that is foreign to their perceptions, data that tell them that they exploit others, they make mistakes, it is they who are envious, and so on. Much of this information is simply denied or repressed, but more elaborate defenses are also frequently employed. Narcissists often use rationalization to construct alternative realities that draw on the actual substance of events but change their significance to excuse blunders and exploitations.

Once a scenario is found that saves face and puts the narcissist in the best possible light, it replaces the previous version of events and becomes the working model of reality on which the narcissist proceeds. This may lead to some strange role reversals: The narcissist does not exploit others; others should be flattered that the narcissist consorts with them. The narcissist doesn’t make mistakes; the narcissist is a visionary who pursues dreams others cannot possibly understand. The narcissist is not a dictator, but an enlightened autocrat. Many more variations routinely take place in the experience of these individuals.

More later.