Diagnosed narcissist explains the 'scariest thing' about people who have the condition

A diagnosed narcissist has explained what he believes is the most frightening thing about having the disorder.

Narcissists are often depicted in popular culture as cold and calculating people who are fully aware of how their behaviours are hurting others. However, this is not always the case.

One person who regularly shares their experiences of having narcissistic personality disorder is Jacob Skidmore - who goes by the name @thenamelessnarcissist on social media. His videos provide a deeper understanding of what it can be like to navigate the world with the condition.

In a recent TikTok video, Skidmore revealed how a recent conversation with a friend he used to date led him to realise one of the 'scariest' things about narcissists when it comes to how they view the world and their interpersonal relationships.

Skidmore explained that he had asked his friend to recall the 'worst' part of dating him, to which she revealed how her entire life had revolved around him during the relationship, 'while it seemed like I did not care at all about her'.

The comment allowed Skidmore to explain what he believed to be one of the scariest thing about narcissists - which is that a lot of their hurtful behaviours are subconscious rather than intentional.

"[When] I heard this, my thought wasn't 'oh yeah, I did that to control her', because I didn't. My first thought was 'really?'" adding that he has never tried to be controlling towards someone.

He continued: "I've never in my life thought 'I'm going to do this thing to make them more emotionally reliant on me so I can control them.'

"Almost everything that she described that I did that made her emotionally dependant on me was me creating emotional distance just because of my own emotional pathologies and insecurities."

Skidmore then went on to explain that, in his mind, he believed that allowing himself to be vulnerable around a partner would then manipulate his feelings against him - leading him to use 'emotional distance' as a defence mechanism.

"It never even occurred to me that I was a fundamental part of her life," he added.

Skidmore's explanation that his behaviour was subconscious rather than intentional isn't unusual either, with an article in Choosing Therapy outlining how narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder is a spectrum, and many can often be 'unaware' of how their behaviours are impacting others.

This isn't the first time Skidmore has revealed he was unaware of how his behaviour was being perceived either, with a recent video explaining several manipulation tactics he believed were normal behaviours.