Need help figuring out if my dad is a narcissist, or something else.

Hello everyone. I read through the list of 20 Diversion Tactics that narcissists use, and I am struggling to understand if my dad is a narcissist. He doesn't really fit the mold, but he has some tendencies that I have always called narcissism. Here's a general list of some "red flags" I have thought were narcissism:

  • Becomes enraged when he thinks someone is making fun of him or insulting his intelligence (I made a joke to him once when I was 12, and he stomped around the house for 30 minutes screaming and calling me a bitch)
  • Gets furious at other people for things they can't control (our computer stopped working and he screamed at the entire family so much that my mom had to take us to the movies to get away from him)
  • Makes half-assed apologies for his insane rages ("Sorry I got so mad but you...")
  • Brags about how many women he has made cry at work
  • He owns a business, and a girl quit because his behavior and anger gave her intense anxiety (he now makes fun of this girl and how "weak" she is)
  • Has used money to control me/get information from me - my parents offered to pay for my move, which was around $400, and later when I wouldn't tell him something about my personal life he become enraged and said "of course it's my business, we paid for your fucking move!"
  • Cannot talk to anyone about their life in any capacity. He has to control the conversation. When I was younger and going through some hard times at school he said "I want to talk to you I just don't want to talk about your problems."
  • He hired a 24-year-old girl to work for him, played golf with her constantly, gave her a check for $2500 and then, when my mom found out about it, acted like my mother was the crazy one and continued to golf with her but lied about it - he didn't stop the behavior until the 24-year-old pissed him off and he fired her, then bragged to everyone that she now has to work at "golf galaxy"

Basically, my childhood with him was horrible. But, is this narcissism? I have so many more examples. I assume he has some kind of personality disorder, mainly he just does whatever he wants with no regard for anyone's feelings or emotions, and has intense anger issues. I was absolutely terrified my entire childhood of saying the wrong thing so I didn't set him off. What do you guys think?

And if he is a narcissist...well...now what? I totally distance myself from my dad and we barely talk, but the damage from the verbal/emotional abuse is still there.

Posted Jun 28, 2017, 10:23 PM UTC

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Yeah that's pretty blatant narcissism. Like, holy shit blatant. A lot of cases I read about here and elsewhere are the covert types, where the narcissist is more cunning and insidious, but your father is a pretty full-blown overt type.

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staticrankOP•

I don't really know what I expected but it's nice hearing someone say that. Everyone around him excuses his shitty behavior. He owns a business and makes good money and is a "genius" engineer so everyone gives him a pass.

Thankfully I limit my contact with him now...

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