Narcissism and Sanity

 For an infant, people, objects, or places have not yet emerged as real.  But for an insane person, people, objects, and places have ceased to be real.  Neither an infant nor a lunatic can be engaged in a rational discourse because neither recognizes such a discourse as having any relevance to THEIR REALITY.  They are not in the world outside of their own bodies.

 

There is a kind of narcissism which lies on the borderline of sanity and insanity.  The megalomaniac.  Hitler and Stalin are examples of such men.  Ladies forget those big boys.  Haven't we all lived with our own enfant terrible?

 

Megalomaniacs and dictators attain absolute power.  Their word is the ultimate judgment in everything including who will live and who will die.  They become living gods who only become human when stopped by their own death.  Megalomaniacs attempt to transcend the limitations of human existence by pretending that there is no limit to their own greed, lust, and power.   This is a madness.  Nevertheless, the megalomaniac is not considered insane.  In obtaining power,  the megalomaniac forces everybody to agree that he is a god -- the most powerful man.  Since everybody seems to agree -- everybody legitimizes the madness.  Therefore he is not insane.

 

And that's what happened in my house.  My N controlled everything.  Me, my time, my body, my money.  Everything belonged to him.  Heaven help me if I refused to do what he wanted even a curtain could become an incident which made the history of the Balkans seem like child's play.  A malignant narcissist is similar to a bawling child--it is so much easier to give these types what they want than to negotiate.  But there is no negotiating with a narcissist.  That's why one must simply "get it" and get out.  Step out of the madness.