04/08/2026
Individuals with NPD get adoration and praise by charm if they can. The slightest criticism or threat to their self-image could throw them over the edge. If they cannot get praise, they resort to other, often very harmful and sometimes even dangerous, tactics to get what they feel they deserve. If the opposite happens, that is, the narcissist receives criticism, the situation often turns explosive. Again, the narcissist may exhibit symptoms of anger bordering on rage.
Sadly, the person at the receiving end of the rage may not have criticized the narcissist at all. Instead, the narcissist perceived the person’s comment or behavior as a slight and reacted to the slight. All of this arises from the narcissist’s low self-esteem. Given the amount of hubris that many narcissists display, it’s difficult for their victims to believe that the narcissists’ low self-esteem cripples them. It does.
