I used to do this when I was on reddit from 2011-2026.
I did it because I’m a narcissist. Like actually, I was diagnosed with NPD in 2023. People disagreeing with me physically hurts. I don’t know how to explain it but when a person has a worldview disagreeing with me, it feels like an attack on me and causes this kind of ache in my chest.
Everything just gets translated to, “Oh, you think this way? God, you’re fucking stupid! I HATE YOU!” We cannot just disagree because my opinions and worldviews are so intrinsically linked with me. My whole world is me looking into a mirror and seeing nothing but my face. If it reflects something else, that’s frightening.
I obviously am trying to be a better person now and don’t react the same anymore, but in the day that is why I would do it.
Damn. Having that knowledge must be some kind of a relief, isn’t? I don’t mean the diagnosis, obviously, but it must have taken up so much of your energy.
I’d say so. Deep down, I don’t actually like myself. I’ve said before narcissism is like scar tissue or armor that limits your “range of emotion.” I’m either angry or feeling absolutely nothing.
I’m from the neurodiverse crowd so while I might not be able to relate completely or agree, I can completely relate to the situation of people telling me they understand but behaving in a way that proves they really don’t and really can’t.
So if humanity disagrees with a set of powerful narcissists, they will delete humanity. We should teach in schools that narcissism is genetic and humanity were better off without most of them.
Narcissism isn’t necessarily genetic, predisposition to it may be, but personality disorders seem to be caused by a combination of factors, with a major one being childhood experiences. Source My father has (unmanaged, but not particularly severe) NPD and I just wound up with CPTSD and no personality disorders. Same for all my siblings.
In my uneducated opinion, a much better school based approach would be to keep an eye out for children displaying signs of personality disorders, possibly even screening for them, and then trying to help get them access to treatment from a young age so they can stop hurting themselves and others sooner
Declaring genetics as the main factor is pretty recent. But anyway, given the person you inherit it from is usually not far away, mother and/or father and or grandparent/grandparents, the non narcissist parent (if any) is fighting an impossible battle. Knowing about NPD particularities early on, might increase chances, though.
I used to do this when I was on reddit from 2011-2026.
I did it because I’m a narcissist. Like actually, I was diagnosed with NPD in 2023. People disagreeing with me physically hurts. I don’t know how to explain it but when a person has a worldview disagreeing with me, it feels like an attack on me and causes this kind of ache in my chest.
Everything just gets translated to, “Oh, you think this way? God, you’re fucking stupid! I HATE YOU!” We cannot just disagree because my opinions and worldviews are so intrinsically linked with me. My whole world is me looking into a mirror and seeing nothing but my face. If it reflects something else, that’s frightening.
I obviously am trying to be a better person now and don’t react the same anymore, but in the day that is why I would do it.
Damn. Having that knowledge must be some kind of a relief, isn’t? I don’t mean the diagnosis, obviously, but it must have taken up so much of your energy.
Being a narcissist sound surprisingly like have zero inward confidence and self esteem every time I hear it described. Is that at all accurate?
I’d say so. Deep down, I don’t actually like myself. I’ve said before narcissism is like scar tissue or armor that limits your “range of emotion.” I’m either angry or feeling absolutely nothing.
I’m sorry to hear that. Thank you for responding and helping me better understand it. I wish you the best in your journey to feel better.
Kudos on you for trying to better yourself!
Thank you for writing this.
I’m from the neurodiverse crowd so while I might not be able to relate completely or agree, I can completely relate to the situation of people telling me they understand but behaving in a way that proves they really don’t and really can’t.
Best wishes for your progress!
I disagree.
EDIT: this was a bad attempt at a joke and insensitive, please accept my apologies
Delete this
That has got to suck. Absolute kudos for the self-awareness and working to better yourself, npd can hurt a lot of other people if you let it run wild.
So if humanity disagrees with a set of powerful narcissists, they will delete humanity. We should teach in schools that narcissism is genetic and humanity were better off without most of them.
Narcissism isn’t necessarily genetic, predisposition to it may be, but personality disorders seem to be caused by a combination of factors, with a major one being childhood experiences. Source My father has (unmanaged, but not particularly severe) NPD and I just wound up with CPTSD and no personality disorders. Same for all my siblings.
In my uneducated opinion, a much better school based approach would be to keep an eye out for children displaying signs of personality disorders, possibly even screening for them, and then trying to help get them access to treatment from a young age so they can stop hurting themselves and others sooner
Declaring genetics as the main factor is pretty recent. But anyway, given the person you inherit it from is usually not far away, mother and/or father and or grandparent/grandparents, the non narcissist parent (if any) is fighting an impossible battle. Knowing about NPD particularities early on, might increase chances, though.