General Discussion

The problem is that the word is tossed around for anyone who is an asshole. A real pathological narcissist hears internal voices and lives in an alternative reality. They are assholes because they are delusional. They will literally believe their own lies.

Trump is likely a narcissist with strong Machiavellian and Antisocial traits = the dark triad. Remember he BELIEVES his lies. They are REAL in his head.

These people are so convincing they dupe therapists. I went to marital counseling for years. I took the whole blame - ALWAYS. Yet no matter how hard I tried - nothing got better. It wasn’t until we moved and got a different therapist when she said “that’s abuse”, and I said “yeah, I can see how you came to that conclusion “. She said “no, yelling when someone crosses your boundaries is normal. YOU WERE ABUSED!” Thank God for that woman - she saved my sanity and probably my life (spouses of narcissists die young - likely from stress related diseases). Anyway, from that came a lot of things and finally a formal diagnosis (now verified by multiple clinicians) of NPD.

I don’t know why I shared this other than to say and remind someone that people with real NPD are very very sick and very very dangerous. It’s not just being an asshole.