Narcissism and Addiction

Narcissism is often referred to as an excessive entitlement with lack of empathy and willingness to hurt others for personal gain. Rarely is referred to as an addiction but it is very much an addiction that is meant to mask inner painful feelings such as shame and guilt. Whenever there is an extreme pain felt by the narcissist i.e. their wounds are activated, they will then employ a very specific feeling in another person to be reflected back to them so that they can use this feeling to mask their inner pain. For example, when a narcissist feel shameful they will shame others or may work to become extremely competent and successful in order to mask this very shame. The addiction is a sneaky one which uses people as the drug of choice for the most part. It is important to understand the inner landscape of a narcissist to better protect and remove from situations that could be potentially harmful.