019 SelfWork: Narcissism And How To Cope With It

Understanding narcissism is difficult. But if you’re a person who’s trying to love someone with a lack of empathy, the tendency to be quite self-involved, and to need an incredible amount of attention or praise, he or she could have narcissism. It’s vital to know what it is and how it affects relationships. What’s important to realize? Even though the person with narcissistic traits may cause pain and appear to be quite manipulative, it’s not necessarily intentional or planned. This complicated set of behaviors hides tremendous personal insecurity, and is our topic for SelfWork this episode!

In this podcast, Dr. Margaret defines narcissism, and what a personality disorder is. It’s become such a popularized label to use, she also stresses that “not all jerks are narcissists,” and offers its major traits, as well as how to distinguish it from other problems. As always, she focuses on “what you can do about it,” and gives several concrete suggestions of how to communicate with someone with narcissism, how you need to set boundaries and cope with their reaction to the change.

You can subscribe to this podcast on Stitcher or I Tunes today! Or subscribe to the website and receive weekly blog posts and podcasts as they’re published! Just put your email in the gray box on the right! Feel free to confidentially email me: askdrmargaret@drmargaretrutherford.com. I’ll answer, and would love to hear your ideas for future podcasts or reveal your questions on the broadcast.

Important links that are mentioned in the podcast:

How to recognize the traits of narcissism:

When do those traits turn into “narcissistic personality disorder”?

The difference between being narcissistic and sociopathic.

What does a narcissist sound like in a relationship? Thanks to Robin Reisch.

The HuffPost Divorce article on signs you’re in a relationship with someone with narcissistic traits.

What  adult children of divorce want you to know

If you see yourself in this post, there is an excellent book, “Disarming the Narcissist”  which might be helpful to you. For anyone experiencing abuse of any kind, the classic “The Battered Woman Syndrome” is a must read.

Thanks so much for listening!