Can the Narcissist Become Violent? - Violence and Narcissism

Written by Dr. Sam Vaknin

Q: Are the treatments for violent narcissists different from those of non-violent narcissists?

A: Only in adding specific medication to the mix of talk therapy and medicines which are used in treating NPD.

Q: To your knowledge, has the presence of NPD ever been used as a defence for criminals in the court system?

A: Suffering from a personality disorder does not constitute a defence in any country I know of. It is often raised as a mitigating circumstance but never as a defence. Nor, at least in the case of pathological narcissism, can be used as one. Narcissists are fully aware of the difference between right and wrong and are fully capable of controlling their impulses. They simply do not care enough about their victims to do so. They lack empathy, are exploitative, feel entitled and superior and thus regard other people as objects or as extensions of themselves.

Guns and Narcissists

Q: Should I tell my narcissist that I have a concealed weapon? I want to deter him.

A: My advice is to conceal the weapon both physically and verbally.

For two reasons:

One, narcissists are paranoids. NPD is often co-morbid with PPD (Paranoid PD). The presence of a weapon confirms their worst persecutory delusions and often tips them over the edge.

The second reason has to do with the balance of power (or rather balance of terror) complex.

In his mind, the narcissist is superior in every way. This fantasized and grandiose superiority is what maintains the precarious equilibrium of his personality.

A gun - the virile symbol that it is - upsets the power relations in favor of the victim. It is a humiliation, a failure, a mockery, a defying challenge. The narcissist will likely seek to restore the previous poise by "diminishing" his opponent and "containing" the menace.

In other words, the presence of a gun guarantees conflict - sometimes a potentially lethal one. As the narcissist - now terrified by his own deranged persecutory phantasms - seeks redress, he may resort to the physical elimination of the source of his frustration (to battering, or worse).

next: The Narcissistic Psychopath - How Do I Get Rid of Him?