ABSTRACT
Narcissism is nearly always the product of a trauma. The whole narcissistic way of functioning, the grandiosity and the disowning of parts of the self, is a defensive procedure. It can be difficult to grasp this in the middle of an encounter with someone who is exceedingly narcissistic, given the way such a person is always arousing other people, making them want to escape, making them anxious or angry, whatever it happens to be. This chapter discusses that one of the ways of managing trauma, a sudden onrush of stimulation, is the narcissistic option. To distance himself from what is happening, the person enters the narcissistic way of being. In a grandiose state, he or she is able to push away those things that are painful, is able to dispel parts of himself into others, and lives anaesthetized against whatever the painful thing may be.
