Narcissists always have to be right. Anyone living or working with a narcissist can tell you this. Sure, you may catch them in what you know to be an error. But they always seem to have an answer. They’ll start twisting the facts until they finally fit their narrative. Then they’ll claim those twisted facts prove they were right all along. In a way, this all seems so silly. After all, we’re all human, and humans make mistakes. So why can’t some of us just admit it? All this can be really frustrating, too. Getting a narcissist to admit they’re wrong (i.e. only human) can seem an almost impossible task. This begs the question of why narcissists always have to be right.
Classical Notions
For a long time, we thought all narcissists had a fragile self-image. And we believed their sense of self-worth was so tenuous that it would devastate their tender egos to admit fault or error. Moreover, we believed they were unconscious about the defenses they raised that kept them from seeing and admitting the truth.
We also thought all narcissists were quite sensitive and anxious about being vulnerable. We saw them as necessarily insecure folks, desperately trying to feel safe. And admitting error can certainly make a person feel vulnerable. So, we thought it simply too frightening for a narcissist to admit a mistake. And we also thought they were completely oblivious about the ways they defended themselves against this vulnerability.
The Real Heart of the Problem
We’ve come to realize how wrong we’ve been wrong about the majority of narcissists. True, some narcissists are of the “vulnerable” type. (See also: Two Main Varieties of Narcissists.) But many others are of the more “grandiose” type. And real reason such narcissists always have to be right is rooting in their inflated sense of self. They don’t recognize any “higher powers” or authority. And they ardently resist subordinating themselves – to anyone or anything. They see themselves as “special” and superior. So they refuse to identify with we ordinary folks who get it wrong sometimes.
The Tragedy of the Lie
Grandiose narcissists can promote their image of greatness and infallibility with passion. And sadly, their unwavering conviction can mesmerize over time. This is part of the gaslighting effect. (See: pp. 133-134 in In Sheep’s Clothing.) (See also: How Manipulative Characters Gaslight.) Before long, others can become convinced of the grandiose narcissist’s professed greatness and rightness. And that’s when really bad things can happen.
Narcissists affect others in many negative ways. Sadly, they also affect the children they might raise. So, over the coming weeks, I’m going to be exploring a topic rarely discussed. We’re going to explore what it can mean to be an adult child of a narcissist. Adult children of narcissists often have some interesting things in common. And we’ll be taking a look at some of them in the coming weeks.
Can’t wait! Thanks for writing this.
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Alley Kroon,
Be Gone with your “LIES”
Only Truth and Understanding will set you free.
Read the blog and stories of others, truth and understanding is the only truth that will set one free. Truth will not lure you into spell-castors, Truth is free, the regular posters on this blog will help you and point you in the direction of truth and it will cost “Nothing.”
Please be diligent in searching for truth and understanding rather than
a Fix….
For me, if I can make the difference in knowing I helped another freely, I have made that difference, that goal of paying forward to All who reached out and help me.
To All and Alley Kroon,
Everyone, Here is a jewel of information and a to a link of information which is free, free, deplete of spells or garbage, just Truth…. with any hidden costs or anything…..
Whoopee!!!!! Free, Free, Free!!! Its so Great….. I will continue to post link this in the future too. Knowledge is power and its all free on this blog.
Just love it all and God Bless all of you including Alley!
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dr+george+simon&t=hp&ia=videos&iax=videos
All,
My error, it should read ” Without any Hidden Costs.”
I don’t appreciate your comments on Donald Trump. You should at least disclose that you are a lifelong Socialist leaner and supported all far left politicians who did and do great damage to our country.
Wow. Verifying your first statement would have taken quite some time going through past posts and comments. But, your second sentence gives you away. Begone you bigot, Patricia. 🙂
How is Patricia showing she is bigoted because of her political leanings? Begone? Lets treat each other with respect. Kindness and respect. I wish all things weren’t so political nowadays.
kat,
Perhaps bigot is too strong a word. I could not think of anything between prejudice and bigot, with bias toward later.
Begone is rude. Should have just told her to avoid making prejudices comments “disclose, supported far left, great damage to country etc”.
Now, I will be begone. No more comment/responses to political stuff on this forum. 🙂
Thanks Andy D, I think Patricia came on strong, I agree. Its the begone that bothered me. Seems politics is lighting everyones fuse these days. Seems better to stay away from that subject to me, I will do the same. Peace to you and all.
You are not the truth, and that’s a fact. Leftists are wrong, fact. period you lose
Patricia is right you’re wrong. Period you lose.
Nothing you think and believe is factual reality. You only have wrong inaccurate opinions. FACT.
Only because someone who supports Trump (statistically the majority of the country as compared to anyone else running for POTUS) you claim they are a bigot? This makes YOU sound narcissistic!
Thankyou for your insights and perception Dr Simon, the knowledge you share, the work that you do to help those of us predated on by vile egocentric monsters
I think he’s spot on about Trump his political stance has nothing to do with psychology, I wish people would stip defending thst narcissist Trump and accept the truth about him.
I had two narcacists in my life and both spoke of their faith and used that pathway to impression manage others. I don’t know what they are taking away from their daily practice of ” surrender and let it all go to God” means for them . Both put demonstrable time in Church and speak of the peace they receive from their relationship with God. I do think they are experiencing some kind of freedom from “surrendering ” to a higher power but they are both extremely narcissistic . What is all of that about??
question: what’s a narcacist? is that someone who assists a narcissist?
Thank you Krista for the very “telling” comment/question.
narcissism and ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ don’t mix do they? They so long to be ‘seen as good’ – so you will find lot’s of narcissists in churches unfortunately. Good job God reads the heart I say He is not fooled. Don’t spend any energy trying to figure these people out – be polite but stay away from them.
How do you stay away if married to one. I’m a Christian and believe it’s a demon.
Thoughts anyone
JT,
As Dr. Simon has stated there are two types of narcissists. If you believe he is demon which I believe many narcissists are, I would have a sincere talk with your pastor. I would also read the many stories in the archives where others have stated the same.
You ask “How do you stay away if married to one?” There is only one way to stay away and that is either by leaving or divorcing. Staying with the narcissist will be an ongoing challenge of wit and wherewithal. In the end you will find yourself being drained as narcissists are vampires.
Looking forward to topic adult child of a narcissist.
Also looking forward to reading about the adult child of a narcissist.
I am sooooo grateful you are exploring this new topic of children of narcissists! I have a six year old who has a father who has been diagnosed with an axis 2 PD -narcissist, through a psych Eval my ex husband had VOLUNTEERED (that’s just how absolutely sure he was that he was right!) to pay for through the courts. He still got 50/50 visitation time due to several things- bad social workers who just wanted to be positive and a very unskilled lawyer when litigating and coordinating logistics of a case. As you can probably tell- I still need help overcoming this.
Thank you so much Dr. Simon!
Hey Everyone,
There is a YouTube channel called SBSK (Special Books for Special Kids) and they interview and feature all sorts of disabilities. Great setup, right? A guy with the diagnosis of Anti-Social Personality Disorder was recently featured. Please, watch the interview and provide your thoughts. I think it’s incredibly foolhardy of them to have featured Dyshae, a self-labeled “sociopath” and given their platform over to him.
It’s manipulative. There are multiple times where it’s clear Dyshae is attempting to hide his duping delight. He pretends to have been “confused” but now with his therapist, he is striving to be a better person and not prey on others so much.
Then, predictably, if you look at the FB page or the twitter feed, you see all these people giving all this respect, support, and applause to Dyshae for giving such an interview and working on his disability.
I think it’s sickening. Most people who watch this YT channel are presumably either a person with disabilities or a family member of someone who is disabled. They are especially vulnerable to a predatory person. And now this is considered a “disability” for Dyshae to work hard at in therapy and seek to overcome.
Nothing is mentioned as to his criminal history. Nothing is mentioned as to his victims. No real empathy is given to his victims, as they are not featured, and instead it’s all about congratulating Dyshae’s braveness in coming forward about his disability and his struggles in learning to not prey on others.
I thinks it’s sickening. I think it’s dangerous. And like clockwork, all these people are congratulating Dyshae and wishing him the best in life, saying “God bless!” and all sorts of encouragements.
What about his victims? What about any predators’ victims?
Did anyone else see this video? Does Dr. Simon wish to weigh in and offer his thoughts? Does anyone else think this is very dangerous? It makes sociopathy out to be a disability! A disability! It normalizes it.
Please weigh in, other victims, as I think it’s horrible. The way he talks, with his smoothness, and his demeanor, it reminds me of a manipulator ‘running game’. As that is what predators do – they run game. All day, every day.
I think Dyshae is a child, which changes things. A person doesn’t want to criticize a child too harshly. And apparently I’m one of the very few who was taken aback by the channel featuring a self-described sociopath.
Has anyone seen “I, Psychopath”? I love that the guy producing the documentary captured the abuse by Sam Vaknin, towards the end of the documentary.
Does anyone feel alarmed that his wife is so deeply in denial? I think she is still useful to him, so he scales back his abuse to keep her around.
I think that sociopathy or antisocial personality disorder (APD) as a mental disease it’s worst than a disability, but this is subjective, sure there are many disabilities worst than having APD, so what is there in common between APD and disabilities? The fact that non of them was a conscious choice, no person with APD ever chose to have APD, or none that I know of, and the same with disabilities… So, in this view, it’s good to have Dyshae in the show, I enjoyed the video, and as to his victims, what matters is responsibility and accountability, so that if he has victimized anybody and must pay jail time then what matters is the justice system administering him a fair punishment for any kind of abuse… now this being said, most likely he hasn’t broken any law, he hasn’t victimized anybody to the point of deserving jail, since most sociopaths live normal lives and get to reproduce and spread their sociopathic genes, if there is any gene related (APD may emerge environmentally)
TL;DR I like Dyshae’s video
As a former victim of a sociopath, Dyshae’s video was a breath of fresh air for me. He is speaking the truth, which is rare for ASPD. His truth isn’t nice, it isn’t kind, but as someone who will never get an apology or a word of truth from my abuser, I was able to get the truth and even come to a level of acceptance and closure on my path of grieving through Dyshae’s words. If all of those affected with ASPD would get counseling and arrive at the truth that Dyshae has arrived at, this world would be a better place. It’s deeper than condemnation and “this person is bad and that person is good.” It’s about recognizing that each of us has bad and good in us, and the choices we make with the cards we’ve been dealt with — in Dyshae’s case, he feels inadequate because he has low-frequency emotions, and that really is tough to deal with — these choices define us even more than a diagnosis. I can choose to have both compassion for those Dyshae has taken advantage of, as well as Dyshae, and I can choose to applaud Dyshae for doing the best he possibly can to learn more about empathy and to behave in ways that better the human race. Dyshae is a shining example of what ASPD recovery looks like. Can you imagine telling the world you may not be trustworthy? He was brave to say that. So many other ASPDs out there would rather keep ‘running game,’ all day every day. Dyshae is making different choices. What if Dyshae had a daughter? What if he was your daughter’s father? If I had to have a father of my child have ASPD, I’d rather have Dyshae than another ASPD who kept playin’ without therapy. Hands down.
All,
This Dyshae is getting all the narcissistic supply he needs and then some.
Regardless, of whatever personality one is diagnosed with, the person still knows what they are doing is right or wrong. The interviewer should stick to what he does best, Dyshae is a victimizer, he is not disabled, Dyshae knowingly chooses his prey, his own words. Remember, therapy is a game, a hustle to a narcissist, sociopath, psychopath and for that matter the “Charactered Disordered.” This is a redundant theme of Dr. Simons
A man wrapped up in himself makes a very small bundle.
— Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer
Joey,
Sure is true, we are all small bundles.
Hope you are well……
Thank you, and yes I am well. Still losing weight. 36lbs lighter and it is staying off.
Regards
Joey
I would have sent a mothers’ day card to my nutcase mom but I didn’t think they delivered to Hell. Maybe I should have given it to my golden sibling who could eventually deliver it in person.
God help any patient who disagrees with a narcissistic surgeon as I found out the hard way… I was horribly harmed by one when I pleaded for another option. He went berserk and botched the surgery, destroying my health and my life…