Things I Think About - The Gaslighting Narcissist

[lucyruthe]

For the last few years, I've been studying mental health. Independent of the classes I'm taking on a variety of topics, I've been reading up a lot on both gaslighting and narcissism. Today I had an "aha" moment

Comments

[revdj]

Would it be correct to say that everyone has narcissistic tendencies? And by your model, the ones who are NOT narcissistic do not act on those tendencies?

[lucyruthe]

I think everyone has selfish moments. It's part of being human. I suspect it's more a question of owning up to those moments and moving on, rather than rabidly clinging to the denial. In the examples I cited, those behaviors were consistent over years and decades with absolutely no budging in the default patterns.

Also, one of the hallmarks of narcissism is a lack of empathy no matter how your behavior affects others. The willingness to consider other viewpoints and compromise is a very clear indicator that you simply have human moments and are not a narcissist.