candasiri
Jedi Master
Yeah, there are a lot of videos about narcissism. I think Dr. Ramani allowed that door to be opened with her clinical and personal experience. About self-examination, I'm sure some narcissistic person has done it before when they've hit rock bottom. But, because at their core, narcissists feel vulnerable and unworthy, self-examination can be a bit difficult as it engenders vulnerability. Dr Ramani says that some are ready to do some self-assessment when at rock bottom and that usually manifests as profound depression after things that propped them up have left their lives.
Here's an example from my work, HIPPA-compliant of course. We had a very charming older gentleman, retired, very very wealthy, was in the public eye to some extent, be admitted after he stabbed himself in the abdomen after fight with his 2nd wife. His children were not talking to him and the only person he had left was the wife and the marriage was very rocky. He was depressed but would seek narcissistic supply by performing songs to strangers when off the unit on an outing with other patients and dictating where the outing was stopping. Other days, he would get very sullen and walk trails in the woods for a very long time so that it concerned staff and he deliberately would not take his cell phone. Then he would get us Starbucks. He would want to leave the program prematurely because he might receive an award overseas then need to be talked out of it. His dearest wish was to return to the other program where he stabbed himself because the treatment was mostly group therapy and he could talk about himself and give other people feedback all day every day. As annoying/charming/irritable as he could be, when I heard about how is mother was to him as a child it all made sense. That little boy inside him had my sympathy.
