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Look at how he frames the question -- "I talk too much...", "I don't enjoy...", "I tend to judge...", "I have an inflated ego..." He doesn't think about his be
by Domenic_S 7y ago
Look at how he frames the question -- "I talk too much...", "I don't enjoy...", "I tend to judge...", "I have an inflated ego..."
He doesn't think about his behavior in relation to other people. To the narcissist, other people are simply background actors in the movie that is their life. Why does this matter? Well, if you were living on a deserted island, would it matter if you were a narcissist?
When he talks about the negative impact, he again frames it as it impacts him: "These traits have affected my personal and professional life...". Nothing about how it might have impacted other people's lives. We can therefore be sure this post is an act of defense against change.
Further reading: https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2009/01/can_narcissism_be_cured.html https://thelastpsychiatrist.com/2009/01/can_narcissism_be_cu...
- tvanantwerp 7y agoHigh use of the first-person in writing is hardly a sign of NPD. "I" is one of the most commonly used words in the English language.
- Domenic_S 7y agoYou've misunderstood the point, in the whole post he didn't say how anybody else was affected by his behavior. If nobody's negatively affected, the behavior can't be bad. "I've hurt people by being too egotistical" is an example of an "I" sentence that would have made me believe he could see that something was wrong.
- jshevek 7y agoIt was a short post, focused on the information most relevant to the purpose of the post, without being overly intimate.
- AndrewKemendo 7y agoI understand, but the whole subtext is that he's taking responsibility, and not blaming other people, something narcissists can't do.
- Domenic_S 7y agoThat's the trick: it seems that way, but really it's a trap/defense against change. Narcissists are very, very good at seeming to others like they want to fix something about themselves, all the while digging themselves in deeper because deep down they don't really think something is wrong. He says "I tend to judge situations only from my perspective" -- and then proceeds to write this very public post completely from only his own perspective. In another context we could call that lack of insight but for the narcissist it's a feature, not a bug.
- monkeypizza 7y agoWhat would you have him do, though? Voluntarily posting about it to try to improve seems like the best choice. If he hadn't posted at all and just continued being a narcissist, that'd also have been wrong. It's not right to set up a judgement system where someone has no correct action at all.
- AndrewKemendo 7y agoLike other disorders NPD lies on a spectrum. From a clinical perspective (I'm not a clinician but have been treated by them btw) my understanding is that untreatable NPD presents as basically no remorse and no introspection at all. What would be called a "sociopath" which isn't itself a diagnosis. So while yes I totally understand what you're talking about, that the attention seeking of the post itself could be considered narcissistic I am taking it at face value and saying there might be a possibility of some rehab. So my suggestion og talking with a mental health provider is the right option here.
- Domenic_S 7y agoIm not saying he’s attention seeking although that could be the case. I’m saying the form and content of his post shows his inability to see his world from the perspective of other people - the people affected by his narcissism - which is like I said before a feature of the disorder and the reason it is so treatment-resistant. None of this is to say I don’t think he should see a professional - he absolutely should.