Am I a Narcissist?

[Sunless Sky]

Hello everyone, hope your day/night is going well.

I've asked this question of myself before but I never came up with a solid answer yet. That is, one that hasn't convinced me yet.

Am I psychopathic since I do enjoy violence a lot? I don't have uncontrollable violent urges I just enjoy a good fight so no.

Am I sociopathic? I am capable of feeling for others and empathy so again no.

But, am I narcissistic? That is when it gets a bit muddy. I noticed whenever I am talking to someone that I quickly formulate in my head the response that, I think, will generate the most favorable outcome. Even when I disagree with someone, I phrase it in a way that, again I think, will generate the least negative response from the person I am talking to. It's become so bad that I am starting to question whether I have my own thoughts and opinions or am I just parroting what I think will be viewed on favorably?

Because, if I am a narcissist then all my values, principles, and codes mean nothing. They were all constructed for me to make this image of a person that I think is good, not out of any personal reflection or soul searching and research.

I also check my reflection way too often. Like so often that I instinctively check myself out in any reflective surface I come across while out and about.

I don't know. Am I overreacting and what I've just described is normal? Or am I really at least a bit of a narcissist?

Thank you for reading.

 

[TropicalStarfish]

I know that thread titles like "Am I a Narcissist?" and "Marying below your station" probably affect how this site is found in search engines; and they tend to be topics that evoke strong emotions. And strong emotions tend to limit our ability to think critically, rationally, and logically.

Narcissism can mean many things. There is healthy narcissism and unhealthy narcissism. There are people who thrive on admiration who are well adjusted and people who thrive on admiration who are not well adjusted.

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It's a rather subjective term: the meaning is decided by the observer. And in these times, information, be it erroneous, misleading, false, or correct: moves quite a bit more quickly, and can spread very fast.

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To answer you. I don't think I could possibly have enough information to answer. Ideally I think the best answer is: you are human. Then the question is more like: am I good person or a bad person? And, that's a big question. Who would I be to say? And, again, I think, as humans we are more than black and white, good or bad. That's quite a lot to chew on in of itself.

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All that aside: nothing in me screams you are a terrible, no good person.

I think we are living in quite precarious times, though. I think the language we use can elucidate as well as befuddle and confuse. And, I don't think the popularization of an often ambiguous and not very understood (or perhaps well defined, or even legitimate), subjective term, such as the one you are concerned about, has been all that helpful.

Doubtful I have been all that helpful either.

Anyway.. Thank-you as well.

 

[TheRealCallie]

Honestly, sounds more like codependency than narcissism to me

 

[okidoke]

You enjoy a good fight? I don’t think that’s a good prerequisite for a relationship.