I found this interesting article in Facebook last year about the topic of Narcissism. Unfortunately, I lost the link but retained some notes about it. If anyone knows, feel free to send me a message or comment it below:

Here are seven fundamental truths you might not have known about narcissists that can explain why they behave the way they do.

1. Narcissists have conditional self-worth. While narcissists seem confident, their self-worth is, in fact, conditional, whether they're aware of it or not. It is based on certain experiences, specifically external events.  (Ex. A narcissist thinks "I feel good about myself if you agree with me/you admire me.)

2. A narcissist constantly needs more validation. One compliment isn't enough; one "victory" of being right and the other person being wrong doesn't satiate a narcissist's need for validation.

3. A narcissist is motivated by intense fear. Yep, it is actually an intense and deeply rooted fear that propels a narcissist's reactions—both internal (how they interpret what you do) and external (how they react). The fear? That they are not good enough, not lovable, not worthy. This fear, however, is so ingrained that the narcissist is often not overtly aware of it.

4. A narcissist uses anger to avoid feeling deeper emotions. It is "safer" for a narcissist to be angry than it is to feel the sadness and fear associated with his or her conditional self-worth. This coping mechanism of anger is so deep-rooted for narcissists as a means to protect themselves from their own vulnerability that it has become an automatic reaction.

5. A narcissist operates from an all-or-nothing perfectionistic viewpoint. For a narcissist, something is either right OR wrong; a person's behavior is either nice OR mean; he or she is either revered or ridiculed. There is no gray area with a narcissist. 6. A narcissist has his or her own set of rules. We all have our own sets of rules regarding how others should act. A narcissist's rules are written in stone in their minds, and they get extremely upset when people do not abide by them. Why? Because they view a deviation from their rules as a slight against them because they think you think less of them. (Refer to #4 & 5)

7. A narcissist's behavior has little to do with you. Ever noticed how you can say the same thing to a narcissist and one time they laugh but another time they blow up? That is because it is a narcissist's fragile ego that propels their interactions. And that ego can become more delicate with stress, which can manifest in the form of excessive work obligations, sensing they are being taken advantage of, fatigue, or any other of the other countless sources of stress in our society.