Hi Christian and thank you for taking the time to write your comment. It’s ironic. We’re actually on the same side here. We just view the issue differently. I believe that when people throw around diagnostic labels, they devalue their meaning. I don’t think that helps. I also acknowledge several times in the article that narcissistic abuse exists. As far as the article you posted, I’m astonished PsychCentral published it. The author makes these wild assumptions about the prevalence of NPD to the point where she actually suggests that 50% of the population has been abused by them. That’s preposterous and unsupported by data.

I was with you right up until your argument about white men. In the US, whites account for the majority of males, so it’s not too surprising that they would be well-represented. But I think you’d have a hard time making that argument in Central America, or most of Asia, or the Middle East, or South America, and certainly the whole of Africa, where it’s not white men abusing and subjugating women. To suggest that white men are the problem is to minimize the pain and suffering of hundreds of millions worldwide.

Women, I might add, are just as capable of lying, cheating, and gaslighting as are men. So again, to say this is a problem of white men is shortsighted. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if women are more likely to do those things than men. Men do tend to be more physically and sexually abusive, but women hold their own just fine in terms of emotional, verbal, and psychological abuse. I see it all the time in my work.

Finally, yes, narcissism and NPD are two different things. I point that out. But when narcissism leads to abuse, it is almost by definition NPD at that point. The thing that makes a disorder a disorder is that it causes impairment in a person’s ability to function. Certainly abuse is one example of social impairment.

Thank you.