Narcissistic injury and rage are an expression of a perceived slight against self-image. For example, a narcissistic injury might occur when you unintentionally criticize the person with NPD because they didn't respond to a situation in a way you think they should have.
The biggest narcissistic injuries are caused by a lack of narcissistic supply because when a narcissist doesn't have enough narcissistic supply, they can't keep all of their painful thoughts, feelings, and emotions suppressed.
Rage: Narcissists are insecure and when there is a narcissistic injury to their sense of self, they will rage. This is often done with yelling and insults hurled at the victim. During these rages, the narcissist can be the most damaging in their words.
Narcissistic injury refers to any perceived threat to a narcissist's self-esteem or self-worth. This can occur when a narcissist feels criticized, ignored, or otherwise not given the attention or admiration they believe they deserve.
Victims of narcissist abuse syndrome may display signs of emotional abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, verbal abuse, and domestic abuse. Victims in abusive relationships experience emotional and sometimes physical damage.
The most effective weapon to fend off a narcissist is self-love. Narcissists do not want to feel like you don't need them, that you are better off without them, and that you love yourself exactly as you are.
They Are Criticized. When a narcissist is criticized, their inflated sense of self is damaged. Any perceived negative feedback, even if offered in gentle or productive ways, can easily result in outbursts of narcissistic rage. A narcissist cannot tolerate threats to their massive egos and grandiose self-image.
The first type of trauma cause trauma associated narcissistic symptoms, TANS, including overwhelming shame, humiliation, and rage, while the second type of trauma is related to post traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, primarily associated with severe anxiety.
Benefits of Therapy
Depending on how long you were in a relationship with a narcissist, the type of relationship you had with them, and the abuse you experienced, the recovery process can be extensive. Many survivors describe that it took them a year or even several years until they felt like themselves again.
They may react with disdain, rage, or defiant counterattack.” The narcissistic individuals I have known who have had this kind of injury reaction take a long time to get over it.
Narcissistic abuse typically involves emotional abuse via put-downs, accusations, criticism, or threats. A person with narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) may gaslight or contradict you in front of others.
Grooming a person, manipulating her into doubting her feelings, generating shame regarding her best qualities, and manipulatively creating dependency are four ways a narcissist destroys a person from the inside out.
The narcissist perceives every disagreement - let alone criticism - as nothing short of a threat. He reacts defensively. He becomes indignant, aggressive and cold. He detaches emotionally for fear of yet another (narcissistic) injury.
The narcissist tends to be very sensitive to shame, which he perceives as humiliation: a blow to his ego (sense of self) and/or a threat to what he sees as his important status compared to others. This sensitivity is the reason why he tends to lash out at those who shame or appear to shame him in any way.
Narcissism tends to emerge as a psychological defence in response to excessive levels of parental criticism, abuse or neglect in early life. Narcissistic personalities tend to be formed by emotional injury as a result of overwhelming shame, loss or deprivation during childhood.
Most recent theories have focused on the link between narcissism and negative childhood experiences, such as physical or sexual violence, neglect, or rejection [10,11].
Narcissistic Abuse PTSD Symptoms
You feel anxious when you're not with your abuser (separation anxiety). You experience bouts of anxiety, depression, or even panic attacks when you come across triggers that remind you of your abuse. You have trouble sleeping and experience body aches and pains.
During a narcissistic collapse, the narcissistic defenses that keep them confident are no longer working. In a narcissistic collapse, they feel extremely anxious, depressed, ashamed, and may be unable to keep functioning.
Older narcissists become increasingly closed-minded.
They have an inner urgency to blame somewhere for the loss of their personal power or their inability to get the attention they feel they deserve. Narcissists tend to dump all their animosity on scapegoats.
Although narcissists act superior to others and posture as beyond reproach, underneath their grandiose exteriors lurk their deepest fears: That they are flawed, illegitimate, and ordinary.
Narcissists' Greatest Fear
Although narcissists act superior, entitled and boastful, underneath their larger-than-life facade lies their greatest fear: That they are ordinary. For narcissists, attention is like oxygen. Narcissists believe only special people get attention.
Rejection
Rejection causes major narcissistic injury and is one of the top 10 things narcissists fear the most. They can't handle it, even if it's a tiny slight. Remember, they have a sense of entitlement and pride themselves on being the ones who reject and discard their victims.
Type As can also be dangerous to narcissists
Although they can be targeted, type A people can also become a narcissist's worst nightmare. One of the most important defenses against dark personalities is having strong boundaries yourself, and type A people are usually aware they have the right to build them.