The ancient Greeks had a myth about Narcissus, a very handsome, overwhelmingly proud and proud young man. Once he was on the bank of a forest stream and saw his reflection in the water. It seemed to him so beautiful that the young man fell in love with himself, and then died - either from hunger, or from longing and unrequited love. A beautiful flower, previously unknown, grew at the place of his death. Since then, the word "daffodil" has been applied to both the flower and the self-centered proud man.
What are the core qualities of a narcissist
The narcissist tends to go from one extreme to another. For him, everything around is painted in black and white. The narcissist either idealizes someone around him, or despises, considering him a worthless loser. He treats himself in the same way. The smallest success can turn his head, instill an idea of his own exclusivity, and the smallest failure can plunge him into despair, depression and stress.
From the outside, the narcissist looks like a very self-confident, arrogant person, but in the overwhelming majority of cases this is a consequence of his shyness, self-doubt, low self-esteem.
Many psychologists believe that the intrusive claims of narcissists to be appreciated, admired, are caused by too strict attitude of parents in childhood. If the father and mother constantly make increased demands on the child, say that he must meet their expectations, compare his progress with the achievements of other children, the child begins to fear that he will not be good enough.
As a result, the matured "narcissist" constantly needs high evaluations from the outside, manifestations of delight, admiration.
Living with a narcissist is a very difficult ordeal. Even if close people idolize him, he will still find something to complain about. Narcissists need love, worship, recognition, but they themselves do not know how to love (with very rare exceptions), except for themselves.
Likewise, narcissists do not know natural human sympathy, empathy. They do not understand that the other person may need help, support, sympathy.
Can Narcissism Benefit a Person?
Each person has not only advantages, but also disadvantages. Therefore, many people have in some way the beginnings of narcissism. This is a completely normal phenomenon, which can even be useful, you just need to try to keep it within reasonable limits. To do this, the following conditions must be met. Do not pay too much attention to external assessments, do not be afraid to make a mistake, and be not up to par. Do not rush from one extreme to another, but try to adhere to the "golden mean". Do not turn the desire to achieve success, recognition into a "fix idea". Learning to love and be loved by accepting your partner for who they are.
