Encountering someone who displays a combination of Machiavellian, narcissistic, and psychopathic behaviors can be a profoundly upsetting experience. They often leave people feeling exploited and emotionally violated, making it difficult to feel safe and trust again. Psychologists Delroy Paulhus and Kevin Williams identified this pattern as the ‘Dark Triad,’ which describes how these traits combine to form a tendency towards…
Shame-Based Behavior
Shame-based behaviors seek to relieve painful feelings of humiliation and grief through escapist behaviors, including avoidance, self-harm, addiction, and compulsions. The purpose of shame-based behaviors is to numb emotional pain. Dysfunctional narcissism often fuels shame-based behaviors through self-deception. It is also an addiction in its own right as it relies on validation from others.
A study published in the The Turkish Journal on Addictions reveals a link between alcohol use disorder and pathological narcissism.
Melvil Poupaud’s portrayal of a coercive control perpetrator is a tour de force in Just The Two of Us (L’Amour et les Forêts).
On shame-based behavior, its role in dysfunctional narcissism, and why it is importance of compassionate understanding.