Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is part of the Dark Tetrad of dangerous personality traits, along with sadism, machiavellianism, and psychopathy. People with NPD are characterized by extreme self-centeredness and believe they are superior to those around them. They often behave in arrogant, unempathetic, and manipulative ways, which can be very draining to deal with in close relationships. Unfortunately, most of us have come into contact with someone of this personality type. Experts believe that people with NPD make up 15% to 20% of the entire population, meaning there’s a high likelihood that at least one narcissist is present in every one to two households.
Dealing with a narcissist in such close quarters can be extremely damaging to their family members’ mental health over a prolonged period of time. Family structures with a narcissist at the head can be full of unhealthy competition, poor communication, control issues, and a lack of boundaries. They can use tactics such as gaslighting, playing the victim, exaggerating achievements, and even love bombing. After many years of this mental abuse, their spouses and children can develop low self-esteem and depression. Eventually, some may tire of their toxic living situation and choose to flee, but there must be a lot of careful planning to pull this off successfully.
