What is narcissism?
Narcissism is categorized into different levels. It can be a serious personality disorder trait diagnosed by a mental health professional, or it can be simply a behavior that is showed to you due to certain circumstances. If you have been with someone, either in a relationship, as friends, or in your family, that has the following traits – they have probably revealed some sort of narcissistic behavior to you.
- Self Centered
- Sensitive to Criticism
- Lying and Gaslighting
- Selfishness
- Passive aggression
- One sided effort in the relationship/friendship
- No respect of boundaries
- Long held grudges
- No Empathy/ False Empathy
These are a few behavioral traits that portray narcissism.
Temporary temper or Red flag?
Anyone can show these traits in certain circumstances – we are humans. We make mistakes, and we can show behaviors such as selfishness. The point here is how often are they doing these certain actions? Are they okay with hurting other people (including you) if it means they will benefit from it? Asking these questions will help you determine if this can be a temporary temper that can change or if it’s a red flag that you should not ignore. Here are some common questions to ask yourself to look for red flags:
- Do you find yourself repeating your emotions, needs, boundaries to this person?
- Do you find yourself apologizing for everything and fixing the relationship/friendship?
- Do you find yourself reanalyzing the situation because that person says you are exaggerating?
- Do you find yourself doing things under that persons conditions?
- Do you find yourself being constantly ignored?
- Do you find yourself being blamed by that person when things goes wrong?
- Do you find yourself noticing that this person refuses to be accountable for their bad behavior?
If you said yes or relate to any of these questions, then these are red flags and this person is showing narcissistic behaviors.
Don’t ignore these red flags – talk to someone and ask for advice elsewhere on how to better your relationship with this person or remove yourself from their life.