The Link Between Narcissism And Anxiety
What is Anxiety and how it may affect a narcissist’s behavior? Is there a link between narcissism and anxiety? Let us find out.
Anxiety and narcissism are the most common mental health issues in the world. Mental health issues can have adverse effects on people, and they may suffer from many problems related to mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Mental health issues can aggravate diseases like diabetes, asthma, or some chronic heart diseases.
Narcissism and anxiety both can harm a person’s life and may also damage relationships. Narcissism is very difficult to handle, but when a narcissistic person has anxiety this combination becomes a lethal duo to handle as dealing with such a person may be a painful deal of sufferings and hardships.
Narcissists are often characterized by their boosted sense of self-importance, self-pride, and self-needs. With a narcissist, everything is just about them. They lack empathy, have a constant need for attention, and are self-centered, which may affect many relationships.
Anxiety is your body’s response to stress. It is a natural occurrence that brings fear or angst about what may happen or what is about to come next. It is a feeling that everyone may perceive differently as it may affect everyone differently.
For instance, people may get cold feet while confessing to their partners, going for job interviews, appearing for some exams, giving speeches to a large audience, and so on. Such incidents can make people feel nervous and frightened.
Now how do you know that the anxiety attacks you may be getting are normal or it is something to get worried about?
There is a way to know that the anxiety attacks a person may be experiencing are at a severe level to check their occurrences. If the anxiety attacks are constant and last for six months, along with interfering and distracting the person’s life then it may be an anxiety disorder that a person may be suffering from.
What is the Link Between Narcissism and Anxiety?
The relationship between narcissism and anxiety is quite uncertain or confusing, as narcissists may be rarely associated with anxiety due to their grandiose sense of self-importance. This is suggested by experts and it may be a valid point as narcissists may not display anxiety even though they might be panicking or getting tensed in some situations they may act calm and untroubled.
According to a study provided by J.D. Miller, and W.K. Campbell; narcissistic people may experience anxiety about maintaining their grandiose self-image along the pride. They may fear the threats of maintaining their high-end image in society among people and thus may develop anxiety about appearing and presenting their best.
For narcissists, anxiety may have different forms and reasons as compared to others. Narcisists may not display their anxiety publically but they may also be worried and stressed about some life happenings like everyone else.
For instance, people may lay awake at night when they have to make a tough choice or decide on something important in their life. They may also have negative intimations regarding the decisions they might have for others. This decision may include helping others in need or turning down some requests from others.
For narcissists, it may be a good night’s sleep indeed as they sleep peacefully knowing they have made the perfect decision they could have possibly made. They may never give it a second thought after deciding something for others and the narcissists never really care about how others might suffer due to the decisions made by them.
The relationship between narcissism and anxiety is complicated due to some incomprehensible reasons. Both narcissism and anxiety disorder have been on the rise becoming some of the most common mental health issues among people. Both these mental health disorders can make mentally crippled as they may affect daily activities, interactions, and functioning.
Thus it can be concluded that narcissism and anxiety are intertwined as narcissists also suffer from anxiety even though they may never really let it on display. They may have anxiety and worry about them being exposed, their grandiose image getting tarnished, or ways to maintain their grandiosity.
It is also important to note that not all individuals who display narcissistic traits may necessarily experience or display anxiety. Anxiety can develop due to several other reasons and narcissism is just one of them.
The Narcissist’s Anxiety for Social Approval
Narcissists thrive on a narcissistic supply that may include attention, adoration, and validation from others. They are always under the heel of the giver.
Narcissists may lose their ability to function smoothly in their everyday lives without the narcissistic supply. It may start affecting their routine lives. They may need their supply from friends, family, or colleagues at work. They lack self-worth and self-regulation and thus always depend on others to validate them and their presence in their lives.
So when the narcissist is being ignored or their performance is not greeted with a compliment or praise, then the narcisist may feel perplexed as they may feel that their self-worth is being compromised. They may express this in the form of rage or frustration but it may be anxiety concealed behind such emotions.
Their anxiety may not differ much from that of others like fearful ahead of an interview meeting a new person, or giving a solo performance before an audience, but their way of expression is completely different. The root cause is anxiety but the narcisist may conceal it with other emotions like exaggerated self-confidence or frustration.
Narcissism and the anxiety of the social media
This is a common yet another face of narcissism and anxiety relationship. Many mental health experts are now focusing on the relationship between social media and people as those friendships and relationships have gained more weight in our lives than the relationship between already existing partners and people.
Online friendships and relationships are gaining more and more focus than conventional relationships. According to research, addiction to social media can lead to the emergence of a few narcissistic traits in a person. Though these traits may not be fully blown and fully effective they may also not be dormant while constantly living with those virtual relationships on social media.
Such people may suffer from anxiety while connecting with people virtually as they may be concerned about their self-image, their self-presentation, and their appeal. They may have anxiety about people’s perception of them.
Narcissists may be deemed to have obtained their narcissistic supply from virtual relationships through social media platforms rather than choosing the conventional social circle.
The complexity of the link between narcissism and anxiety gets denser with each dilemma.
Reasons why Narcissism may have an interrelation to anxiety
There are a few reasons why narcissism and anxiety may be interrelated,
Fear of Negative Judgments and Evaluation
Narcissists live in fear of being exposed and thus they fear judgments and criticism received from others. This fear may result in unseen anxiety that they may not showcase. They may constantly seek external validation and acceptance from others as they have low self-esteem and self-worth.
Perfectionism
Narcissists present themselves as someone with no flaws and no shortcomings thus proving them as someone who is nearly perfect in all aspects. They establish high standards for themselves and also expect others to meet those standards.
With this tendency of being perfect and following the policy of perfectionism, narcissists may have anxiety about proving their worth and establishing themselves as someone superior due to their flawless personality in all situations.
Social Anxiety
Narcissists reflect self-confidence and self-assurance. They have the impression of exuding an undeniable composure and assertiveness in their behavior, especially in situations that may challenge their egos and self-esteem.
They may have constant anxieties regarding not being respected, loved, admired, or feared by others and thus they may have unrevealed social anxiety that may be affecting their personal and social lives.
Vulnerability
Narcissists constantly juggle between being a super and extra confident self and a gloomy, undermined, and highly doubted inadequate self. They have a constant fear that they might be disliked by others or they might be repudiated by others if they do not maintain their grandiose self-image.
They keep on doubting themselves due to trauma and an underlying fear of abandonment. They feel they always need to prove themselves for people to like them.
Thus these insecurities may lead the narcisist to deep-rooted underlying insecurities along with a fear of failure, disapproval, or rejection.
Final Thoughts
The relationship between narcissism and anxiety is complicated due to some incomprehensible reasons. Both narcissism and anxiety disorder have been on the rise becoming some of the most common mental health issues among people. Both these mental health disorders can make mentally crippled as they may affect daily activities, interactions, and functioning.
Thus it can be concluded that narcissism and anxiety are intertwined as narcissists also suffer from anxiety even though they may never really let it on display. They may have anxiety and worry about them being exposed, their grandiose image getting tarnished, or ways to maintain their grandiosity.
It is also important to note that not all individuals who display narcissistic traits may necessarily experience or display anxiety. Anxiety can develop due to several other reasons and narcissism is just one of them.
From Relationship, Depression, and Personality Disorder to Narcissistic problems, I have helped a lot of people find their solutions. Upon gathering a number of common problems that people face, I decided to put the information on this blog so that anyone can get their answers easily.
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