Narcissistic rage
Encyclopedia
Narcissistic rage is a reaction to narcissistic injury, a perceived threat to a narcissist’s self-esteem
or self-worth. Narcissistic rage is a term first coined by Heinz Kohut
in 1972. Narcissistic injury is a phrase used by Sigmund Freud
in 1923.
These concepts have (like self psychology
itself) deep roots in the previous half-century of psychoanalytic exploration.
Narcissistic wound, narcissistic blow and narcissistic scar are similar concepts to narcissistic injury and are sometimes used interchangeably. Narcissistic scar is a phrase first used by Sigmund Freud
in 1920.
It is believed that narcissists have two layers of rage. The first layer of rage can be thought of as a constant anger (towards someone else), and the second layer being a self-aimed wrath.
- "an insistence on perfection in the idealized self-object and the limitless power of the grandiose self. These are rooted in traumatic injuries to the grandiose self."
Narcissists are often pseudo-perfectionists and require being the center of attention and create situations where they will receive attention. This attempt at being perfect is cohesive with the narcissist's grandiose self-image. If a perceived state of perfection is not reached it can lead to guilt
, shame
, anger
or anxiety
because he/she believes that he/she will lose the imagined love and admiration from other people if he/she is not perfect.
, looking at the close of "the early efflorescence of infantile sexual life", Freud maintained that "loss of love and failure leave behind them a permanent injury to self-regard in the form of a narcissistic scar... reflecting the full extent to which he has been 'scorned'." In 1923 he added that "a child gets the idea of a narcissistic injury through a bodily loss from the experience of losing his mother's breast after sucking, & from the daily surrender of his faeces," but insisted that "one ought not to speak of a castration complex until this idea of a loss has been connected with the male genitals." In "Some Psychical Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction between the Sexes" (1925) he famously (or infamously) stated re penis envy that "after a woman has become aware of the wound to her narcissism, she develops, like a scar, a sense of inferiority." Finally, in his very last book, Freud would write of 'early injuries to the self (injuries to narcissism)'.
saw the key to depression in "a severe injury to infantile narcissism through a combination of disappointments in love" experienced as a "loss of essential narcissistic supplies." Otto Fenichel
confirmed the importance of "the decisive narcissistic shocks... narcissistic injuries," and, building on Freud's concept of a "narcissistic frustration," expanded such analyses to "borderline cases... Their narcissistic regression is a reaction to narcissistic injuries; if they are shown this fact and given time to face the real injuries and to develop other types of reaction, they may be helped enormously."
Edmund Bergler
took a different approach. Bergler assumed that "the preservation of infantile megalomania
or infantile omnipotence (we today would say narcissism) is of prime importance... The infant responds with fury to [any] offense to his omnipotent self." Thus for Bergler, "as Freud and Sandor Ferenczi
have shown, the child lives in a sort of megalomania for a long period... confronted with some refusal... regardless of its justifications, the refusal automatically provokes fury, since it offends his sense of omnipotence."
In another line of development, we find Lacan
ians "linking Freud's stress on the narcissistic wound to Lacan's theory of the narcissistic mirror stage," while in yet another perspective object relations theory
highlights "patients who have suffered narcissistic injury, having been made to feel bad about themselves in relations to their primary object(s)...the narcissistic shell;" as well as "rage... against failures in the early holding environment" when childhood omnipotence is challenged too abruptly. If instead "the mother gives time for her infant to acquire all sorts of ways of dealing with the shock of recognising a world that is outside his or her magical control... then the child becomes able to be destructive... instead of magically annihilating that world. In this way actual aggression is seen to be an achievement, as compared with magical destruction."
Such narcissistic rage "cannot progress to self-assertiveness because it is the self structure that is enfeebled and vulnerable." Weakness in the self structure leads to the "development of a narcissistic vulnerability: increased sensitivity to disappointments and extreme difficulty in dealing with real or imagined slights and failures. Narcissistic injury follows such experiences and culminates in narcissistic rage."
Narcissistic rage is related to narcissist's need for total control of their environment; according to Kohut includes "the need for revenge, for righting a wrong, for undoing a hurt by whatever means". It is an attempt by the narcissist to turn from a passive sense of victimization to an active role in giving pain to others, while at the same time attempting to rebuild their own (actually false) sense of self-worth. It may also involve self-protection and preservation, with rage serving to restore a sense of safety and power by destroying that which had threatened the narcissist.
Alternatively, according to Kohut, rages can be seen as a result of the shame
at being faced with failure. Narcissistic rage is the uncontrollable and unexpected anger that results from a narcissistic injury - a threat to a narcissist's self-esteem
or worth. Rage comes in many forms, but all pertain to the same important thing, revenge
. Narcissistic rages are based on fear and will endure even after the threat is gone.
To the narcissist, the rage is directed towards the person that they feel has slighted them; to other people, the rage is incoherent and unjust. This rage impairs their cognition
, therefore impairing their judgment
. During the rage they are prone to shouting, fact distortion and making groundless accusations
.
Academic papers
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
or self-worth. Narcissistic rage is a term first coined by Heinz Kohut
Heinz Kohut
Heinz Kohut was an Austrian-born American psychoanalyst best known for his development of Self psychology, an influential school of thought within psychodynamic/psychoanalytic theory which helped transform the modern practice of analytic and dynamic treatment approaches.-Early life:Kohut was born...
in 1972. Narcissistic injury is a phrase used by Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
in 1923.
These concepts have (like self psychology
Self psychology
Self Psychology is a school of psychoanalytic theory and therapy created by Heinz Kohut and developed in the United States at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. Self psychology explains psychopathology as being the result of disrupted or unmet developmental needs...
itself) deep roots in the previous half-century of psychoanalytic exploration.
Narcissistic wound, narcissistic blow and narcissistic scar are similar concepts to narcissistic injury and are sometimes used interchangeably. Narcissistic scar is a phrase first used by Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
in 1920.
It is believed that narcissists have two layers of rage. The first layer of rage can be thought of as a constant anger (towards someone else), and the second layer being a self-aimed wrath.
Types of narcissistic rage
Narcissistic rage occurs on a continuum from instances of aloofness, and expression of mild irritation or annoyance, to serious outbursts, including violent attacks. Narcissistic rage reactions are not limited to personality disorders and may be also seen in catatonic, paranoid delusion and depressive episodes.Perfectionism
Narcissism can be considered as a self-perceived form of perfectionismPerfectionism (psychology)
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that a state of completeness and flawlessness can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable...
- "an insistence on perfection in the idealized self-object and the limitless power of the grandiose self. These are rooted in traumatic injuries to the grandiose self."
Narcissists are often pseudo-perfectionists and require being the center of attention and create situations where they will receive attention. This attempt at being perfect is cohesive with the narcissist's grandiose self-image. If a perceived state of perfection is not reached it can lead to guilt
Guilt
Guilt is the state of being responsible for the commission of an offense. It is also a cognitive or an emotional experience that occurs when a person realizes or believes—accurately or not—that he or she has violated a moral standard, and bears significant responsibility for that...
, shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
, anger
Anger
Anger is an automatic response to ill treatment. It is the way a person indicates he or she will not tolerate certain types of behaviour. It is a feedback mechanism in which an unpleasant stimulus is met with an unpleasant response....
or anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
because he/she believes that he/she will lose the imagined love and admiration from other people if he/she is not perfect.
Freud and narcissism: wounds, blows, injuries and scars
In his 1914 case study of the "Wolfman", Freud identified the cause of his adult neurosis as the moment when "he was forced to realise that his gonorrheal infection constituted a serious injury to his body. The blow to his narcissism was too much for him and he went to pieces." Freud was careful to stress that thereby "he was repeating a mechanism that he had already brought into play once before... when he found himself faced by the fact that such a thing as castration was possible." A few years later, in Beyond the Pleasure PrincipleBeyond the Pleasure Principle
"Beyond the Pleasure Principle" is an essay by Sigmund Freud. It marked a turning point and a major modification of his previous theoretical approach. Before this essay, Freud was understood to have placed the sexual instinct, Eros, or the libido, centre stage, in explaining the forces which drive...
, looking at the close of "the early efflorescence of infantile sexual life", Freud maintained that "loss of love and failure leave behind them a permanent injury to self-regard in the form of a narcissistic scar... reflecting the full extent to which he has been 'scorned'." In 1923 he added that "a child gets the idea of a narcissistic injury through a bodily loss from the experience of losing his mother's breast after sucking, & from the daily surrender of his faeces," but insisted that "one ought not to speak of a castration complex until this idea of a loss has been connected with the male genitals." In "Some Psychical Consequences of the Anatomical Distinction between the Sexes" (1925) he famously (or infamously) stated re penis envy that "after a woman has become aware of the wound to her narcissism, she develops, like a scar, a sense of inferiority." Finally, in his very last book, Freud would write of 'early injuries to the self (injuries to narcissism)'.
Further psychoanalytic developments
Freud's concept of narcissistic injury was subsequently extended by a wide variety of psychoanalysts. Karl AbrahamKarl Abraham
-Further reading:* Freud, S. . Mourning and Melancholia. Standard Edition, 14, 305-307.* May-Tolzmann, U. . The Discovery of the Bad Mother: Abraham’s contribution to the theory of Depression...
saw the key to depression in "a severe injury to infantile narcissism through a combination of disappointments in love" experienced as a "loss of essential narcissistic supplies." Otto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel was a psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation".Otto Fenichel started studying medicine in 1915 in Vienna. Already as a very young man, when still in school, he was attracted by the circle of psychoanalysts around Freud...
confirmed the importance of "the decisive narcissistic shocks... narcissistic injuries," and, building on Freud's concept of a "narcissistic frustration," expanded such analyses to "borderline cases... Their narcissistic regression is a reaction to narcissistic injuries; if they are shown this fact and given time to face the real injuries and to develop other types of reaction, they may be helped enormously."
Edmund Bergler
Edmund Bergler
Edmund Bergler was an American psychoanalyst.-Biography:Bergler, an Austrian Jew, fled the Nazis in 1937-38 and lived in New York City. He wrote 25 psychology books along with 273 articles that were published in leading professional journals...
took a different approach. Bergler assumed that "the preservation of infantile megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
or infantile omnipotence (we today would say narcissism) is of prime importance... The infant responds with fury to [any] offense to his omnipotent self." Thus for Bergler, "as Freud and Sandor Ferenczi
Sándor Ferenczi
Sándor Ferenczi was a Hungarian psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud.-Biography:...
have shown, the child lives in a sort of megalomania for a long period... confronted with some refusal... regardless of its justifications, the refusal automatically provokes fury, since it offends his sense of omnipotence."
In another line of development, we find Lacan
Lacan
Lacan is surname of:* Jacques Lacan , French psychoanalyst and psychiatrist** The Seminars of Jacques Lacan** From Bakunin to Lacan: Anti-Authoritarianism and the Dislocation of Power, a book on political philosophy by Saul Newman** Lacan at the Scene* Judith Miller, née Lacan...
ians "linking Freud's stress on the narcissistic wound to Lacan's theory of the narcissistic mirror stage," while in yet another perspective object relations theory
Object relations theory
Object relations theory is a psychodynamic theory within psychoanalytic psychology. The theory describes the process of developing a mind as one grows in relation to others in the environment....
highlights "patients who have suffered narcissistic injury, having been made to feel bad about themselves in relations to their primary object(s)...the narcissistic shell;" as well as "rage... against failures in the early holding environment" when childhood omnipotence is challenged too abruptly. If instead "the mother gives time for her infant to acquire all sorts of ways of dealing with the shock of recognising a world that is outside his or her magical control... then the child becomes able to be destructive... instead of magically annihilating that world. In this way actual aggression is seen to be an achievement, as compared with magical destruction."
Kohut and self psychology
"Kohut's (1972) 'Thoughts on Narcissism and Narcissistic Rage" has long been considered one of his most brilliant contributions. In it "Kohut constructed a whole spectrum of rage experiences... Kohut viewed narcissistic rage as just one specific band in this whole spectrum, but... he designated the entire spectrum narcissistic rage. This has created some ambiguity." However "Kohut properly contrasted narcissistic rage with mature aggression."Such narcissistic rage "cannot progress to self-assertiveness because it is the self structure that is enfeebled and vulnerable." Weakness in the self structure leads to the "development of a narcissistic vulnerability: increased sensitivity to disappointments and extreme difficulty in dealing with real or imagined slights and failures. Narcissistic injury follows such experiences and culminates in narcissistic rage."
Self psychology and narcissistic rage
Kohut's explanation of narcissistic rage and depression stated, "depressions are interrupted by rages because things are not going their way, because responses are not forthcoming in the way they expected and needed." He went further to say that narcissists may even search for conflict to find a way to alleviate pain or suffering in his book The Analysis of the Self.Narcissistic rage is related to narcissist's need for total control of their environment; according to Kohut includes "the need for revenge, for righting a wrong, for undoing a hurt by whatever means". It is an attempt by the narcissist to turn from a passive sense of victimization to an active role in giving pain to others, while at the same time attempting to rebuild their own (actually false) sense of self-worth. It may also involve self-protection and preservation, with rage serving to restore a sense of safety and power by destroying that which had threatened the narcissist.
Alternatively, according to Kohut, rages can be seen as a result of the shame
Shame
Shame is, variously, an affect, emotion, cognition, state, or condition. The roots of the word shame are thought to derive from an older word meaning to cover; as such, covering oneself, literally or figuratively, is a natural expression of shame....
at being faced with failure. Narcissistic rage is the uncontrollable and unexpected anger that results from a narcissistic injury - a threat to a narcissist's self-esteem
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is a term in psychology to reflect a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth. Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions such as triumph, despair, pride and shame: some would distinguish how 'the self-concept is what we think about the self; self-esteem, the...
or worth. Rage comes in many forms, but all pertain to the same important thing, revenge
Revenge
Revenge is a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. It is also called payback, retribution, retaliation or vengeance; it may be characterized, justly or unjustly, as a form of justice.-Function in society:Some societies believe that the...
. Narcissistic rages are based on fear and will endure even after the threat is gone.
To the narcissist, the rage is directed towards the person that they feel has slighted them; to other people, the rage is incoherent and unjust. This rage impairs their cognition
Cognitive distortion
Cognitive distortions are exaggerated and irrational thoughts identified in cognitive therapy and its variants, which in theory perpetuate certain psychological disorders. The theory of cognitive distortions was first proposed by Aaron T. Beck. Eliminating these distortions and negative thoughts is...
, therefore impairing their judgment
Judgment
A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a guilty defendant in a criminal matter, or providing a remedy for the plaintiff in a civil...
. During the rage they are prone to shouting, fact distortion and making groundless accusations
False accusations
False accusations can be in any of the following contexts:* informally in everyday life* quasi-judicially* judicially.-Types:...
.
Criticism
Wide dissemination of Kohut's concepts may at times have led to their trivialization. "You will often hear people say, 'Oh, I'm very narcissistic,' or, 'It was a wound to my narcissism.' Such comments are not a true recognition of the condition; they are throw-away lines. Really to recognise narcissism in oneself is profoundly distressing."See also
Further reading
Books- Cooper J & Maxwell N Narcissistic Wounds: Clinical Perspectives (1995)
- Levin JD Slings and Arrows: Narcissistic Injury and Its Treatment (1995)
Academic papers
- Horowitz MJ & Arthur RJ Narcissistic Rage in Leaders: the Intersection of Individual Dynamics and Group Process - International Journal of Social Psychiatry 1988 Summer;34(2) Pages 135-41
- Terman DM Aggression and Narcissistic Rage: A Clinical Elaboration - Annual of Psychoanalysis 3:239-255 (1975)