The Vulnerable Narcissist
The passive version of antagonism and entitlement
“The manipulator portrays him or herself as a victim of circumstance or of someone else’s behavior in order to gain pity, sympathy or evoke compassion and thereby get something from another. Caring and conscientious people cannot stand to see anyone suffering and the manipulator often finds it easy to play on sympathy to get cooperation.” ~ George K. Simon / In Sheep’s Clothing: Understanding and Dealing with Manipulative People
As a trauma therapist in NYC who specializes in treating victims presenting with narcissistic abuse syndrome, I have found it to be more insidious and baffling to identify the injuries incurred from a vulnerable narcissist as compared with the traumas incurred from an overtly conspicuous narcissist. This is primarily because the vulnerable subtype of the pathologically narcissistic person is often misconstrued.
This dilemma is illustrated in the following scenario.
John sulked repentantly, but truth be told he was enraged at how beaten down he felt by Alison’s demands. No wonder he couldn’t perform sexually. It was months since he even touched her. It was all her fault they were in this mess, moaning on about the fertility injections and the miscarriages.
