Narcissus was a handsome Greek youth who rejected the desperate advances of the nymph Echo. As a punishment, he was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. Unable to consummate his love, Narcissus ‘lay gazing enraptured into the pool, hour after hour’, and finally changed into a flower that bears his name, the Narcissus. That is why people obsessed with their looks are called narcissists. Here are the six deadly sins of narcissism:
Shamelessness: Narcissists are usually incapable of processing shame in a healthy way. This inability to digest shame comes from unhealthy narcissism.
Magical thinking: Individuals start seeing themselves as perfect people, using distortion and illusion known as magical thinking. In their eyes, they can do no wrong.
Arrogance: When a narcissist feels low, they will take an effort to lift themselves up by debasing or degrading other people.
Envy: Narcissists acquire a sense of superiority over others by using contempt as a form of putting the other person down.
Entitlement: They hold unreasonable expectations about treatment from other people, and always want to be praised.
Exploitation: Self-absorbed individuals exploit others without any concern for the other person’s feelings.
