My Daddy Is a Hero

And just as vampires cringe when they’re in the presence of crosses or holy water, narcissists recoil at ordinary adult experiences such as boredom, uncertainty, accountability, and, most of all, having to give as well as receive. (Bernstein, 2002)

However, pathological narcissism develops from early childhood wounds that manifest in a hunger for perfect attention and admiration that can never be satisfied.

When you’re involved with someone who is unable to show empathy, your capacity for self-empathy becomes lost. (See cycle of isolation, depression, page 185.) Starved for understanding, you have become brainwashed; your internal voices of inadequacy and self-doubt drown out any possibility of your having self-compassion.

First, the parents may be narcissistic and therefore treat the child as an extension of themselves, rather than as a separate being.

Narcissists create a web of seduction, intimidation, and control. Partners of narcissists often describe to me the feeling of being under a spell, trapped in their inability to leave and their reluctance to stay.