Narcissistic

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Definition:
One of many personality disorders that is defined by exaggerated self-importance; craves attention and approval; exploits others; lack of empathy. pg. 388 [] []

Examples:
An example from a movie would be the character Beetlejuice. He shows no empathy towards the Maitland's or their problems. He's only concerned about himself and has an irrational need to have power and control over their unwanted house guests.

Analogies:
The Analogy of a Tick //Disclaimer: For ease of writing any reference to a parasite in this article is in the masculine and the host is in the feminine. This in no way implies that all parasites are masculine and all hosts feminine. Switch it around!//

 We have removed a lot of ticks off our two dogs this season and I can’t help but want to use the tick as an analogy of a parasitic energy such as a narcissist.

 A tick hops on the dog when it needs to feed. It is but a small insect but as it embeds into the flesh of the dog it begins to feed on its blood and grows larger and larger. When it gets its fill of blood it jumps back off and lives for a time on the food it has consumed. But after a time the food is gone and the tick seeks out the closest supply of blood he can find to puff his little body back up again. Sound familiar?

 Since we usually find the tick before it can feast and exit we have to go through the grueling process of extracting the tick from the dog. First we douse it in alcohol and then we grab it with a pair of tweezers and gently pull until the tick finally tires of holding on and lets go. At that point we drown it in alcohol.

 If we are not careful in the extraction of the tick and pull too hard we may separate its head from its body and the head will still be embedded in our dog, which is not good. And so the process of extraction is incredibly important.

 Narcissistic people are parasitic. But they are wise enough to attach to the next source of food while they are still puffed up from the last source. This way they appear big and strong and worthy of attention and the prey doesn’t notice that his intentions are to suck the lifeblood out of her. In fact she doesn’t even know that she is prey.

 In some cases when the parasite doesn’t find a new source of feed in time he may appear downright desperate and distraught. He then must seek out a soft hearted caretaker who is willing to nurse his wounds while he attaches himself to her.

 After a time of having the parasite feeding off her life force energy the host, or prey, begins to feel depleted. She loses energy. She begins to feel like something isn’t right. She makes the fatal mistake of turning to the parasite for comfort and reassurance. Now he must do some fancy footwork to cover up his intentions (sucking the life out of her) and in order to keep her going on about her business oblivious to what is really going on he uses this opportunity to enforce in her doubt, insecurity, and a sense of worthlessness. This causes her to feel so badly about herself that she doesn’t realize she has a blood sucking parasite on her back.  When she does FINALLY realize what is going on she has to go through the long grueling process of extraction. Or in some cases he exhausts his source and hops off in search of a new one leaving her wondering what just happened. He seemed so attached to her. He was! Literally!

 But that attachment was for the purpose of sucking the life out of her. She believed it was love. Now, having had her energy sucked dry she is not only depleted, but duped! She has been betrayed by the energy sucking parasite that came with promises of love, bliss and happiness.  For those who have discovered the nature of the beast early, then the long grueling process of extraction must take place.

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Mnemonics:
Narcissistic personality disorder: **SPECIAL** (5 criteria). **S**: Special (believes he or she is special and unique)

**P**: Preoccupied with fantasies (of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love)

**E**: Entitlement

**C**: Conceited (grandiose sense of self-importance)

**I**: Interpersonal exploitation

**A**: Arrogant (haughty)

**L**: Lacks empathy

In the News:
[|How to Spot a Narcissist] [|Why are there so many Narcissist today?] [|Narcissism linked to Abuse]

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