Narcissistic people are hard to spot especially when we don’t know what we’re looking for; here are a few behaviours of people with a narcissist personality disorder. It is on the spectrum, so these are just some common behaviours; not every narcissist will do each one.
They like their egos being stroked and believe they are superior to those around them, and they like to think that all others look up to them. So look out for those who have an intense perception of their image, whatever that image is to them; even the victim narcissist may portray themselves very differently around different people.
They will lie about everything, yet some of them have the story’s about things that seem ridiculous to others. However as they tell these stories with such truths, it’s difficult not to believe them, a lot will exaggerate actually events, some claim to know famous people they don’t actually know. When they are lying, if you pay close attention, they may not even blink, they may also change the tone in their voice, so observation is a must. Observe don’t absorb to protect yourself from people with the narcissist personality disorder. Many people will bend the truth, and the more the lies get out of hand, the more uncomfortable they look, feel and act; as it’s not natural to a narcissist they tend to get more confidence and more convincing when they lie. This could be because they actually believe their own false reality within themselves. So a calm demeanour doesn’t mean someone is telling you the truth.
They have an explanation for everything with their word salad, so they do trick your brain with great ease; you really need to pay close attention to your gut instinct; if something feels off, even if you don’t know it, trust your intuition.
When they get caught out with a lie, they will not back down. They can be sat drinking your last can of pop, they will still deny it was yours, where healthy people would slump their shoulder, apologise and offer to get you another, narcissists believe they are entitled and have every right to what they want, and their wants come above all others needs, so they often think they’ve done nothing wrong, and stand firm, that they are not in the wrong. Their image to others is more important than reality, they will not back down, often with word salad, false apologies, or blame-shifting, they will convince others doing all they can, manipulation such as gaslighting, silent treatments. That their reality is fact and that you are wrong, with or without evidence. They are always right.
As they will never be accountable or accept the consequences, some will spend way too much of their and your money. Some will be super tight with their own money, yet they will happily spend yours.
Everyone can be moody. We all wake up some days with no clue as to what’s wrong, yet narcissists can be extremely moody, turning hot and cold without any true reason, leaving those around them confused and often believing it was something they did to the narcissist.
If someone seems far too good to be true, moving things fast, they usually are too good to be true, nobody falls in love faster than a narcissist who needs somewhere to stay, we all have our faults, we all make mistakes, authentic people might not like being called out on them or admit them, if needed however they will, especially to those close to them they will admit fault, narcissistic people project all their faults onto those around them so that the narcissist can escape accountability.
They are extremely self-centred, and self-entitled their needs always come first. People do sometimes put their needs first, yet they will often try to fit in with or help support others; narcissistic people will only do this if they have something to gain.
They take control of the conversations; it’s all me, me, me; they might be interested in you at the start; as soon as they have enough information about you, they will no longer listen to you.
They can be extremely unreliable; they will often promise things and rarely deliver, often saying they never promised in the first place, some people do generally forget from time to time, but they will apologise; narcissists will just twist all the facts so they are not accountable and it’s all your fault. They do not care for the consequences of their actions, and they will blame all others if something doesn’t go their way; even if they were totally or partly to blame, they would not accept any responsibility.
They want control of all events, people and situations; if they don’t have control, they will manipulate the situation any way they can until they do, often leaving you thinking you were to blame. They may provoke you to get a reaction from you, so you believe it was your fault for reacting. They will control financially, sexual, your friendships with others, your education, your work; they control affection. They will threaten and guilt trip to control others.
In the home, they can be completely different, to that charming charismaticcharacter when out and about, that character you first meet, so it can be incredibly hard, to tell people who they indeed are, as those around them only see the narcissists good side.
They are good most of the time at reading others, most often going for empathetic, genuine, loyal, forgiving and kind people.
They can pretend to love others and care, have empathy, the closer you watch them, you’ll notice they are copying learned traits, and it’s all the admiration face to gain attention, which when they feel their needs are no longer being met, their envious face will appear.
They are extremely impatient, watch how they react if the food takes a long time in a fast-food restaurant if someone doesn’t give them the correct order if they are kept waiting by others, they believe they are special and deserve special treatment, we can all be impatient when in a rush, however, narcissists once that mask slips will nearly always be impatient.
They are very easily annoyed when things don’t go their way. They seem unable to take on board others opinions or advice.
Some like drama, they like to live on the edge, some people do just enjoy being daredevils and experiencing unique or different things, the narcissist has no respect of the law, some may pretend to, but most think they are above it.
They have no real values, just borrowing values off others to pass off as their own to hook people in; they can also switch from super nice to super nasty in seconds.
Narcissists believe they are entitled to everything so they will take, take, take. Yet give little to no thanks. Yet they want to be thanked for things they haven’t even done for you, and you should know when to say it.
With a narcissist, it is all about them, so if you find yourself feeling really miserable and drained, you are most likely around a narcissist.
More signs of someone with narcissistic traits.
- Never accountable.
- They don’t see problems within themselves.
- Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
- Low levels of empathy.
- Exploits others.
- A sense of entitlement.
- Arrogance.
- A need for power and control.
- Expectations of special treatment.
- Prone to putting others down.
It’s is on a spectrum, and although most of us could act in one of the above ways at times, you do need at least five characters to have a narcissistic personality disorder. However, they may not show all the characteristics to one person.
Signs of a narcissist.
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Elizabeth Shaw is not a Doctor or a therapist. She is a mother of five, a blogger, a survivor of narcissistic abuse, and a life coach, She always recommends you get the support you feel comfortable and happy with. Finding the right support for you. Elizabeth has partnered with BetterHelp (Sponsored.) where you will be matched with a licensed councillor, who specialises in recovery from this kind of abuse.
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