Dealing with a narcissistic person can be challenging, especially if you’re an authentic person yourself.
Narcissists are often inauthentic and manipulative, doing whatever it takes to get their way. Authenticity is important to you, but when dealing with this type of personality, it can be difficult not to feel like you’re giving up your values.
The Dark Truth About Narcissism
When people think of a narcissist, they often picture someone who’s completely self-centered, obsessed with their image, and lacking in empathy. And while it’s true that narcissists have these traits, there’s something else most people don’t know about them: they’re not very good at being themselves.
Narcissists Spend So Much Time Thinking About How to Impress Others That They Forget to Take Care of Themselves
They don’t spend enough time thinking about what makes themselves happy – they’re too busy trying to be the perfect image for everyone else.
And that’s why it’s so important to remember that narcissism is just one part of a bigger picture: authenticity. Narcissists have difficulty being authentic because they’re so focused on impressing other people that they can’t look past their egos and think about how they feel inside.
The Dark Truth About Narcissism Is That It’s Hard to See When You Look at Yourself
Narcissists are good at putting on a show for others, and they’re good at being very convincing in their minds.
A Narcissistic Personality Disorder Is a Mental Health Condition
Narcissistic individuals can convince themselves of anything – that they’re right, better than others, and deserve more attention and praise than others. And all this is done to make them feel special and important because they need that to feel happy and secure.
For example, a narcissistic parent is willing to practice emotional abuse on their child (guilt, conditional love, etc.) and do anything to prevent their child from becoming their true self. They focus on their own life satisfaction, don’t care about having a healthy relationship with others, and have no real empathy for others, including their own family. But they’ll pretend to have empathy just to make people admire them.
Narcissists Aren’t Good at Recognizing How Others Perceive Them
Often they don’t even care what others think of them because they believe they’re above those people anyway.
Authentic People Focus on the Truth, While Narcissistic People Focus on the Dream
The difference between authentic and narcissistic people is in your intention.
People with authenticity are honest about their feelings and motivations, while narcissists hide behind a mask designed to keep others from seeing who they are. This can be considered authentic, but true authenticity is about being honest about who you’re. When narcissists pretend to be someone they aren’t, it can damage those around them who truly care about them.
Authenticity is powerful, but it takes more than just saying what you think or feel.
It takes courage and confidence to admit who you’re and what matters most in your life. It also takes empathy with others so they can trust what you say because they know it’ll always be true.
Narcissists lack both qualities because they want to be perfect at all costs instead of just being themselves.
When narcissists feel that someone might see through their facade, they try even harder to make sure that no one knows who they are by lying or pretending to like things that don’t matter at all
While Narcissism Is All About Self-Expression, Authenticity Comes From Within
People with narcissistic personalities work on their appearance, not on themselves.
This is because they have a strong sense of self and know that it’s important to look good and be successful. However, they don’t care about other people’s feelings or how they look to others. They also tend to lie and manipulate others to get what they want, creating a toxic relationship with others.
Authentic People Are Different Because They’re Interested Not Only in Their Own Feelings and Needs but Also in Those of Others
They’re willing to share with others and communicate honestly without being rude or mean. Authentic people don’t rely on manipulation or lies as much as those with narcissistic tendencies, who prefer to get things done honestly rather than using manipulative tactics like lying or constantly bragging about themselves (which narcissists often do). This can make it difficult for narcissists to understand why those around them who’re authentic stay away from them because they can’t stand dishonesty for too long.
Authenticity Promotes Personal Responsibility, While Narcissism Reinforces the Need for Control
Authentic people learn to control themselves, while those with narcissistic tendencies tend to try to control others. This can lead to conflict between the two people because their goals and motivations differ.
Narcissistic individuals often have difficulty taking responsibility for their actions because they believe they’re perfect and above reproach. Therefore, they tend to blame everyone around them when something goes wrong. They also have low self-esteem because they refuse to take responsibility for their behavior.
An Authentic Person Is Willing to Take Responsibility for Their Actions Without the Need for Constant Validation From Others
Conversely, a narcissist tries to control others through emotional manipulation to make themselves feel better. This often leads to negative outcomes for both parties because it creates an unhealthy power dynamic between them that can lead to narcissistic abuse if left unchecked for too long.
To be more authentic, you must first accept that you’re responsible for your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. You must be honest with yourself about how you feel and why.
Narcissism and authenticity are concepts that don’t always go hand in hand. Narcissists tend to pretend because they’re concerned with their image and what others think of them.
A truly authentic person accepts their own mistakes and learns from them. They apologize for their mistakes because they believe in respecting others and themselves.
Narcissists, however, never apologize because they think admitting a mistake would mean they’re imperfect or wrong. That’s why it’s so hard for them to admit mistakes because then they’d be admitting their imperfection.
Authenticity Forces People to Confront Their Idealized Image of Themselves and Takes Responsibility for Their Feeling
When you’re authentic, you don’t have to act in a way that pleases other people or makes them feel good. You don’t have to pretend to be someone you’re not or hide your true feelings. Instead, you can say what’s really on your mind and express how you feel.
This is especially important in narcissistic relationships because they tend to be overly self-important and try to make you feel like everything is about them and what they want. They can also be insecure about their abilities and accomplishments. Therefore, they may try to manipulate you into believing that they’re more impressive than they are – and then use that against you later when necessary.
Narcissism often engages in these behaviors because people with this personality disorder don’t realize how much damage they’re doing to others. Most people with a narcissistic personality disorder are unaware that they may have a mental health issue that needs to be taken care of.
However, anyone aware that they have a psychological problem causing pathological narcissism should see a professional who specializes in helping people deal with their narcissistic trait.
Narcissists Don’t Like Authentic People Because Authentic People Make Them Feel Inferior
If you’re authentic, you know that you can’t pretend to be yourself. You can’t act like someone else or play a role that doesn’t match the real you – whether the person you’re playing is a celebrity or a fictional character. It just won’t work for long.
You probably also already knew narcissists are the exact opposite of authentic people. Narcissists thrive on pretending to be something they aren’t: They want to be seen as perfect, beautiful, talented, etc., but in reality, underneath the mask, they wear when interacting with others, they’re often insecure and self-loathing.
This is why narcissists dislike authentic people: they make them feel inferior by forcing them to face their insecurities about who they are and what kind of person they want to be. The narcissist may try to eliminate this feeling by attacking the authentic person, but this isn’t a solution – it only makes things worse for both parties.
When Narcissists Meet Authentic People, It Can Be Very Unpleasant
Narcissists are all about control. They want to control their own lives and the lives of others and will do anything to achieve that. This can make them seem fake or deceptive, but that’s not because they don’t have genuine feelings; it’s because their feelings are always about themselves.
On the other hand, authentic people are more concerned with living in accordance with their values and staying true to themselves than controlling anything or anyone else.
When a person with a narcissistic personality encounters an authentic person who won’t let him control him (or at least isn’t interested in being controlled), it’s a problem for the narcissist – because he’s used to getting what he wants by any means necessary.
This is so uncomfortable for narcissists because it makes them feel like they’re no longer in control of anything – and as we said earlier, that’s exactly what narcissists live for! They don’t want authenticity; they want to feel like they’ve power over everyone around them so that no one can hurt them anymore (as if anyone else would ever have the power to hurt them if no one was around).
Related Articles
American Psychiatric Association: What are Personality Disorders?
National Library of Medicine: Narcissism and Psychosocial Functioning
Identifying, Exiting & Healing from Narcissistic Relationships with Psychologist Dr Ramani Durvasila