FIRST AND FOREMOST:
No conscience. Piranhas dont appear to have consciences either. They lash out at anything for any reason. Oddly actually afraid of other fish, they appear to have no control over their appetites nor about attacking whatever is near, friend or foe.
A person with the psychopathy of malignant narcissism, knows right from wrong, but treats oneself as some say in the South “extra-extra precious”… and thereby feels entitled to break all rules at will. One can count on if there are rules, policies or laws, a person with malignant narcissism will break many, most, or all, depending on being able to do so while out of sight of honest others.
When confronted: says “the rules are stupid, unfair [to me], rigged [toward me], pointless [for the great whomever], should be changed [for me]…I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Does not register that others feel pain.
When confronted with hurting others: says others are “weaklings, started it first, are stupid, unfair, ambushed [me], have a hidden agenda, want to embarrass me. Ive done nothing wrong.”
Wonders why others are so upset about their crude, insulting, attacking remarks and actions. Says, ‘Youre making a mountain out of molehill, let’s move on, what’s the matter with YOU, you sissy, bi—, you —–head, you fat, ugly —- [cant use you to arouse myself as an excuse into preening and leering], do you know who I am? Do you realize you are nothing compared to me?!’
Is often cruel under guise of ‘humor’. Some from the upper Midwest might say, “Stuffed to the gills with the sawdust of what used to be a self.’ The person with narcissism puts forth predictable mocking of others who have critiqued him/her — or failed to ‘properly’ worship the narcissist. The person is unable to be silent, has an opine and will, as some say in talk radio, bloviate’ about anything. Truly, anything.
Filled with rage and rageful ramblings should anyone point out
a} that he/she is not the center of the universe
b} that their reckless gorge of whatever comes to their minds has harmed others/ disrupted serious meetings, delayed others from getting their work done, embarrassed and often professionally or legally endangered those associated with them.
Believes any woman or man whom they find attractive wants to ‘spend time’ with them sexually, and just needs a little coaxing by any number of means, including the tired come up and see my etchings, to food, to money, to faux fandom e.g., ‘allowing’ others to bask in his/her immense and often highly inflated talent for — more than anything –financial deals to business-hoodwinking of others.
Has an impossible time passing by those he/she finds attractive without pressing on them uninvited invitations –to taking unjustly what has not been given.
The lack of conscience, the sense of unmitigated [except by court law brought down hard] entitlement, the sense of ‘I was meant to be the big king/queen of the small hill,’ and…
the deep and constant ‘tempestuous desire to be seen as ‘desirable’ —
this ‘desire to be found desirable’ is actually a malignant infection rather than a wondrous talent the narcissistic person fancies they have… all these, as well as chronic lying, multiple deep breaks in relationships with business associates, in business deals, and more–
this is the wildly veering track record of the person with narcissism. They ever need new associates –for honest associates, lovers, must and will leave them in time [except for those who have only steep downhill drop socially, financially or politically, who may delay and delay. But too, eventually, even those leave the person with such sickness of mind for self-preservation’s sake.] This is one of the reasons narcissistic persons will often hold loyalty to themselves as the highest ideal, rather than an associate’s personal loyalty to their own heart and soul, their own family, their own callings].
Often, the sociopath, the psychopathic narcissist winds up in prison or levied with huge fines for violating laws.
This excerpted from my previous article at TMV “How To Catch A Psychopath”
…here are some of the main characteristics of a psychopathic personality for you to measure with.
…A person with this kind of mind, uses old old ways of deceiving mixed with questionable charm, attempting to draw sympathy from vulnerable others, to become the focus of yet others through media appearances as though a VIP, and to be roundly reviled at the same time.
…Sounds odd, doesnt it? To hope to be found a sympathetic creature and to be reviled– sound like opposite desires. But, to the psychopathic person, they are all understood as being the same energy, that is, ‘attention from others proving one is above it all, above all rules and above all censure.’ This is a form of grim entertainment for the psychopathic person. And it is what matters most to them.
…A psychopath definitely does know right from wrong, but proceeds to harm others anyway. The thrill of the act of power over vulnerable others, and the subsequent being in the limelight, whilst hiding the blackest of black hearts, is the entire point.
…It is a game in which one of the payoffs is to confuse all the ‘marks’ (the victims, victims’ families, law enforcement, the courts) so others can be laughed at by the perpetrator… a form of deeply satisfying entertainment for the psychopathic person.
…And yet, a form of deadly entertainment- for the producer of all this will stop at nothing, no lie too big or small, in order to be in the limelight and be entertained by throwing confusion into all concerned while using the most dark acts to harm others who he perceives have in someway been drawn to him/her first, and then changed their minds. He will strike to punish them –[sometimes,] to death.
…The person with this kind of psychopathy says yes to themselves about any and everything that comes to their minds. They cannot tolerate being told No. They cannot tolerate that there are rules.
….For them, there are no rules of decency, or comportment. They are often addicted to various ‘pleasures’. Bouncy and often smiley, yet they are calculating and choose only the most vulnerable as their victims, the ones who are taken in by the persona, the mask, who havent a clue of the black heart behind those.
…Also, in terms of a psychopathic person… –they have a huge blind spot. It is this: They think others, (their marks) are too stupid to catch them.
…So, they become more and more careless, reckless, bold, while leaving more and more clues to whatever evils they have done.
…The person with this psychopathy, does not have conscience. Not at all. Not one shred. They are often highly talkative, often charming enough, often sexually dim or over the edge, often work alone, but will with forethought on their forays, often draw weak male and female sidekicks/ partiers/ students/ to themselves in order to camouflage their main intent[s] …
and also to point out that their ‘followers’ ‘never saw me do anything wrong’ and eventually, when cornered, the psychopathic personality will spread blame onto their followers, often falsely implicating them.
…For such a person, there is not even honor among thieves.
…Oddly though a person who has a psychopathic personality believes themselves to be the most clever of the clever, the most handsome of the handsome, the most blameless of the blameless, when they are caught and questioned, they trot out a boringly predictable pattern of response meant to obfuscate and try to endlessly confuse the mark(s) who would be [eventually some form of] law enforcement.
Passive-Aggressive Psychopathic Behavior
Tell a lie that sounds like the truth.
Follow with a truth that sounds like a lie.
Tell another lie that sounds like the truth.
Follow with another truth that sounds like a lie.
Tell a lie that looks like the truth.
Tell a truth that looks like a lie.
Be highly entertained by all the law persons, families, public running in all directions following the lies that are not true but appear to be so at first… and overlooking the truths that the psychopathic person has parsed to make them look like lies.
The ultimate cornering of a psychopath in a legal setting is best done
–to not allow him/her to redefine and redefine the issues
–but to stick to the exact issues like a broken record,
–to lock down completely the facts,
–and not allow the person with psychopathic personality to continue to add and add irrelevancies for others to chase around.
Cornering a psychopath comes from
–not offering them gates
–to want nothing from him/her that decent people wouldnt want…
— To give him/her no access to internet to broadcast their form of ‘entertainment’ with himself/herself as the star of their own ‘reality show.’
–And to hold all legal hearings out of the way of cameras
–To cut off his/her communication with the world screen, until guilt or innocence is determined with legal finality.
…Barring not allowing him/her to direct his own media circus, to capture a psychopathic person [or murderer,] one has to remember, he/she thinks you are stupid, that he/she can use to his/her advantage what we call ‘case-worked talk,’ that is, telling you all the right things you want to hear, including regret, and crying on self-demand, and asking for mercy for his/her family and friends, and all other lies that appear to be truths.
…A psychopaths’ idea is that all others can be re-directed and snowed emotionally, spiritually and factually, and the psychopath’s most cherished idea that they alone is above the law, are the very set of his or her own weakminded characteristics that bring him/her down at last.
When a person who is a smiley psychopath who has harmed others, if sent for a prison term, they must be watched constantly so they are not allowed to become predators, sexually and otherwise upon other prisoners. Their pattern of causing deep pain for others in order to be entertained by it, will continue.
In that regard, finding harming others entertaining, the piranha does not share this characteristic with the person suffering from malignant narcissism.
CODA
Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés is a post-trauma specialist and psychoanalyst, in practice for forty-five years. She is the author of several books, and has had a prison ministry since 1975.