Why subscribe?

Concerning Narcissism aims to draw parallels between narcissistic abuse and the greater cultural milieu. This Substack endeavors to be a source of solace in that somebody in the Internet diaspora “gets it.”

Based in San Francisco, California, I am a born and raised American citizen concerned about the impacts of narcissism in politics and culture. In an effort to address the pandemic of pathological narcissism, I am also an op-ed columnist for the newspaper, Brussels Morning out of Belgium.

My objective is to facilitate understanding narcissism in everyday life, rooting it out, and worst case scenario, channeling it for whatever pro-social yields we can get. 

I am not hamstrung by academic or professional political correctness and, by extension, the antiquated Goldwater Rule, which muzzles mental health professionals from publicly commenting on public figure’s gross pathology.

Testimonial from Narcissism Expert Prof. Sam Vaknin

Much of my work is inspired by the work of narcissism expert Prof. Sam Vaknin, to whom I owe a debt of gratitude for immeasurably helping me recover from narcissistic abuse as well as understanding life for the better.

Ginger Coy demonstrates a striking command of the field of pathological narcissism. She’s able to forge broad lines of synthesis and spot synoptic connections between psychology, politics and culture. Coy offers insightful takes on the news of the day, embedding and infusing psychology where others dare not penetrate. She is fast becoming a major thinker. Her writing is impressive in its scope, profundity, and incisiveness. I continue to be an avid and admiring reader of her work.

— Prof. Sam Vaknin

Political Narcissistic Abuse

Narcissistic abuse is the subversion of the natural order of things and the very identity of the victim. The stages of governmental subversion of society: demoralization, destabilization, crisis, and normalization correlate with and map onto the stages of narcissistic abuse: idealization, devaluation, discard, and replacement.

I’m proposing a new phrase, political narcissistic abuse, to convey societal narcissistic abuse vis-à-vis politics and government. Political narcissistic abuse is narcissistic abuse that originates from pathological political leaders and their narcissistic collectives (polities/governments) who suffer from one or more personality disorders, namely narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy), and/or paranoid personality disorder. These pathological political leaders can also colloquially be called narcopaths (narcissistic sociopaths) for shorthand.

Politics is the long arm of the narcissistic abuser. The closest phrases currently in the canon of narcissism are shared fantasy/psychosis, which en masse is called “folie à millions” [“madness for millions”], mass psychosis, mass formation, mass psychogenic illness, and political malignant narcissism. None of these phrases capture or viscerally elicit that pathological governments — autocracy, dictatorship, gerontocracy, plutocracy, oligarchy, etc. — have as their engine narcissistic abuse. Hence, there is a need for the illuminative, go-to, accessible phrase, political narcissistic abuse. This phrase describes the mechanism of politics through which narcissistic abuse is perpetrated, whereas the existing phrases capture not the mechanism or process but the result of the mechanism or process.

Similarly, I believe that there is a need for the introduction of the phrase religious narcissistic abuse to capture narcissistic abuse perpetrated by narcissistic clergymen, religious and spiritual groups, sects, creeds, denominations, etc., and systemically through religion itself.

While racism and sexism are also oppressive systems through which narcissistic abuse could be perpetrated, I’m not arguing for an expanded ad infinitum lexicon for all modes of oppression as prefixes for narcissistic abuse, as in “racist/racial narcissistic abuse” or “sexist narcissist abuse” as I believe doing so would water down and render the potency of the phrase political narcissistic abuse fatuous. Additionally, political narcissistic abuse could serve as an umbrella term that could encompass racism and sexism.

Click here for more information and a chart on the stages of political narcissistic abuse.

Stay up-to-date

Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and website. Every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.

Also, subscribe to my YouTube channel for direct links to video content, including my interviews with Prof. Sam Vaknin.

For the time being, I’m not paywalling my content. This is a labor of love and a public service announcement, so I want it to be available to everyone. Please share in your networks, consider a paid subscription if you find value in my work, or feel free to buy me a coffee.

Thank you for reading and supporting my work.

— Ginger Coy