I’m honored to have been a guest on the Threads Podcast: Life Unfiltered, a space that encourages people to have authentic conversation and share both the high and low points of life. In the podcast, I talk with co-hosts Jason and Ben about narcissism, relationships, and how to know if you’re in a relationship with a narcissist.
In our conversation, we do a deep dive on the definition of a “narcissist.” People often think of narcissism as “vain and conceited,” but it’s really much more than that. As I tell Jason and Ben, narcissism actually exists on a spectrum that includes Narcissistic Personality Disorder (an actual diagnosis and condition) to having symptoms or traits of narcissism to a covert narcissist who is more “low-volume” narcissist.
We also talk about the roots of narcissism and its connection to childhood experiences. Though they present themselves as confident, arrogant, or boastful, narcissism actually stems from a deep fear of being vulnerable. Both Jason and Ben share their own experiences as parents and how they can avoid raising children with narcissistic traits. Some tips I suggest looking for to see if kids are developing narcissistic traits are for are:
- Lacking empathy
- Difficulty regulating emotions and lashing out
- Frequent rages or constantly monopolizing conversations
- Needing to be constantly praised and/or the center of attention
- Difficulty or inability to apologize
- Pattern of selfishness and lack of concern for others
- Lack of awareness about selfish behaviors
- Blaming others and difficulty holding others accountable
- Frequent excuses and inability to empathize with others