Psychologists say that narcissistic people are those self-involved individuals who have an inflated sense of self- importance and are not empathetic towards other people.
Life with them is really hard because not only do they get insecure about the good that comes to you, but rather, they snatch opportunities away from you. Anything that takes the limelight away from the challenges their existence and they react to the threat in various ways.
Therefore, such people wreak havoc on one’s life. The damage is greatest still when it’s the parents who are the narcissists. The child suffers not just mental trauma but gets scarred for life.
A narcissistic father, rather than nurturing the child, stunts their growth. Girls feel that they can’t get enough love from their father, and boys think they can’t be good enough for them. Similar negative thoughts are manifested by children of a narcissistic father. Hence, it is important to watch out for the signs of narcissism in the child and take steps to counter the damage done.
Table of Contents
1- They neglect their children:
For a narcissistic father, his hobbies and activities are more important than child-rearing. They neglect the child in pursuit of their adventures.
2- They are vain:
Displaying the classic narcissistic trait, they consider themselves the best at everything. For them, they are the epitome of excellence and so entitled to only the best; whether it be the things or children!
3- They use other people:
A narcissistic father uses his children for his own benefit. He exploits his children and other people around him to serve him, as expected by him. The children hence must be on the beck and call of the father, yet not expect such service from him.
4- They want the spotlight:
Keeping up with his narcissistic tendencies, the father wants admiration from all the people around him. He amps up the charm around people to be perceived as charismatic and devoid of flaws. If the attention is not given to him, he will lash out on the people around them.
5- They don’t like critique:
As the narcissistic fathers perceive themselves as perfect, they are not open to criticism. For them, they are faultless, so any critique is thought of as a threat and is not well received. They hurt or cut out those who do the criticism.
6- They live through their children:
The fathers impose their own version of a perfect life on their children and expect the children to exceed at all the plans they have to make for them. Whether or not the children wanted to pursue it is irrelevant. This is a blatant disregard of the wishes of the children, but the narcissistic fathers don’t care.
7- They compete with their children:
Narcissistic fathers can perceive their children as a threat if the children are excelling at something. They get insecure and jealous of their own off-spring and do anything than to put them down. From excessive criticism to projecting bad thoughts on them, they do anything to shatter the confidence of the children.
8- They are manipulative:
The narcissistic fathers manipulate their children into obedience. They withhold love to serve as a punishment and expect the child to show extreme gratitude for the love they get from their fathers.
The above-mentioned traits are manifested in narcissistic fathers in various combination. As such fathers can threaten the well-being of the children, steps should be taken to protect the child as well as make the fathers realize their mistakes.
Professional psychologists can be of great help in this situation. Book an appointment with top psychologists in Rawalpindi, Lahore and Multan through oladoc.com, or call our helpline at 042-3890-0939 for assistance to find the RIGHT professional for your concerns.
