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Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

blogs.scientificamerican.com

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Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the notion of "vulnerable narcissism" presented by the article is a very interesting one. It's not the same as the classic narcissism that you might have been on the 'sharp end' of. The "vulnerable narcissist" (as presented) is incredibly concerned with what other people think (at least on a shallow level), but often views themselves very negatively. They have a negative bias to self image and a lack of asser…

I had to read your comment twice to understand your take on the 'n' word (which I struggle to spell!). In my studying of the narcissism thus far I do look at what happens with the parents, particularly the mum and how extremely early things can go wrong. So I thought it interesting that you mentioned your mum, and it is not really possible to go 'no contact' on close family. I am also interested in how our make up is…

My main point was that the narcissism (I've been copying and pasting, the spelling IS impossible) you're describing being on the pointed of, that's more familiar, is different than the other kind the article talks about.

Specifically, having a narcissistic mother and being trans led to me being that other kind, that always feels phony and is always trying to come up with some version of self that's packaged for the approval of others.

Good luck getting any kind of change on the political front

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Armchair diagnosis is dangerous IMO. It can be a form of gaslighting. Sure everyone can benefit from therapy, meditation and improving systems for managing sadness, frustration, impatience but telling yourself or someone else you have ADD, compulsive disorder, anxiety is a great way to pop the self esteem bubble and confidence you need to get through life. In the workplace it's especial dangerous; you can force someo…

How do you, as an individual, tell if it's you or if it's the environment?

I wish I had a good answer. A mix of trusted friends and a thoughtful therapist. If you are in an abusive situation, a therapist should be able to identify it since there are objective frameworks to think about that. It's also easy to reject an "objective" diagnosis of a situation because you are likely to view it from your internalized perspective.

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#83
post #70
post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It makes sense if you understand that mental health “diagnosis” has a primary function as a tool for control and status (either boosting the status of the prescriber or reducing the status of the patient). Primate dominance games.

Mental health diagnoses are as valid and useful as physical health diagnoses.

I think OP meant non-professionals. A mental health diagnosis from a laymen is no different than saying "you're crazy!"

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#84
While there's much to debate when it comes to generally how useful, harmful, or dangerous labels are (I think they are all 3 in different ways personally), I think there's a highly uderrated takeaway in the last paragraph:

> "To be clear: these results do not invalidate the fact that most of us experience feelings of impostorism or doubt our ability to make desired impressions on others at various points in our life. Instead, they suggest that no matter where any of us are on the impostor syndrome curve, one potential route to realizing your best self is through dialing down your excessive preoccupation with how you are being perceived by others. Don't worry about being an impostor; worry about being authentic."

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Armchair diagnosis is dangerous IMO. It can be a form of gaslighting. Sure everyone can benefit from therapy, meditation and improving systems for managing sadness, frustration, impatience but telling yourself or someone else you have ADD, compulsive disorder, anxiety is a great way to pop the self esteem bubble and confidence you need to get through life. In the workplace it's especial dangerous; you can force someo…

How do you, as an individual, tell if it's you or if it's the environment?

You speak with a professional

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#86
Psycopaths are an example of covert narssicists, not exclusively but it’s an example.

This article gets it wrong. Vulnerable narcissists are still needy, egotistical and vain people. It’s just that they are introvert. Instead of presuming that any higher being can go back to sleep when they wake up, the introvert N will wonder if it would be possible for other people to recognize that they have everything under control and should just be trusted.

I’ve be raised by a N:bro and N:mom, not the introvert types, and I sure hope this article is a joke or written by a N looking for excuses!

Edit: few typos. I probably missed a few more. I am fuming!

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#87
post #18

Non-narcissist here, apparently. I do find the premise somewhat troubling. If you’re supremely confident and never doubt yourself, even in situations where you should, you could be described as a narcissist. And if you’re lacking in self-confidence, and constantly think you’ll be found out, you’re also a narcissist. And there’s probably narcissists who experience a moderate level of self-doubt in between. It’s more l…

I think the key to understanding narcissism is that narcissists only try very hard to appear confident but on the inside they're anything but. The grandiosity they display is just a kind of coping mechanism.

Not at all. That is why it’s called a personality disorder. They are truly and sincerely like that.

The part that made me realized I was dealing with mentally diseased people is that they truly believe the crap they throw at you. Their lies become an undeniable truth as soon as they spell it out loud.

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#88
post #7

TIL I'm a narcissist. Not how I expected this morning to go. I think these kind of categories that come from psychology are useful and also dangerous. Our innate tendency towards heuristics makes it difficult to talk about this stuff, especially with words like "narcissist" that have strongly negative connotations. The brain is a complicated mess. Maybe the most complicated mess in the universe. We try to impose some…

Do you really really need others approval? Do you reject any blames?

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#89
post #10

If you are interested in this topic and want to discover more about yourself and maladaptive behaviors and coping mechanisms, a great resource for personality disorders is the “Out of the Fog” website[1]. I also find Sam Vaknin has written a lot of interesting stuff on covert narcissism and the concept of narcissistic supply. (he also has a youtube channel) [2] I feel that covert NPD shares a lot of traits with BPD.…

> I feel that covert NPD shares a lot of traits with BPD. True in a sense some of the symptoms of mania can be the same, but NPD is much different from BPD in that BPD is a mental illness that can be managed with medication and behavioral/situational adjustments. BPD sufferers can be completely normal people under the right conditions.

I don’t know about medication, but CBT should work on N

Re: Are Narcissists More Likely to Experience Impostor Syndrome?

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

place the ellipsis immediately after "an". better comedic effect

Be advised that impersonating or misrepresenting yourself as an Officer of Comedy Law is a felony and you may be subject to fine and/or imprisonment.

That's it, you're under arrest for breaching the law that forbids ending comedy sketches with the intervention of a policeman. Oh, wait a minute... this is a feck up!
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