People with narcissistic personality disorder may engage in a variety of games or manipulation tactics. This is so they fulfill their need to be or appear superior and powerful.
Narcissists play mind games by flirting with others while around their significant others to make them feel jealous and show them how desirable they are to others. Narcissists' emotional manipulation doesn't end there.
If you play a game of trying to guess the narcissist's next move, or outsmart them in what your next move will be, you will likely lose. Every move the narcissist makes is calculated and is often not predictable because the narcissist doesn't operate in relationships where two people have equal footing.
Stop complimenting them, don't be submissive or agreeable, and don't do anything for them that could be seen as ego-boosting. When you do this, the narcissist has no further use for you and will either discard you or do everything in their power to pull you back into the supply-providing role.
The best way to shut down a narcissist is to walk away from them. If all else fails, you can physically remove yourself from the conversation. Even if they keep talking, simply turn around and walk away. If they follow you, close the door.
What happens to your brain when dealing with a narcissist?
According to research, people with narcissistic personality disorder have reduced gray matter volume in areas of the brain related to empathy and increased activity on baseline images in brain regions associated with self-directed and self-absorbed thinking.
Here, we define “narcissistic coldness” as the narcissistic tendency to feel less happy for successful others and less concern for unsuccessful others. To explain this coldness, theorists have traditionally posited mechanisms that emphasize “dark” or pathological bases.
Grandiosity is the defining characteristic of narcissism. More than just arrogance or vanity, grandiosity is an unrealistic sense of superiority. Narcissists believe they are unique or “special” and can only be understood by other special people.
Generally, narcissists are very frugal with their money and defensive with it. When it comes to their possessions, they don't give them freely. There is, however, more to this greed than self-preservation. Due to their lack of empathy, narcissists may not understand the benefits of sharing their resources.
Narcissists love attention, validation, and power. So what drives a narcissist crazy? Simply put, anything that jeopardizes their basic needs for superiority can quickly irritate them. If you want to know how to infuriate a narcissist, you can look no further than giving them nothing.
There's nothing a narcissist fears more than being left alone. Block their phone number, unfriend them on social media, and don't even acknowledge their presence if you're ever in the same room with one another. This won't just scare a narcissist—it will devastate them.
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.
