Expert shares five warning signs to help you spot a narcissist

An expert has shared five warning signs to help you spot a narcissist, saying he’s seen his ‘fair share’ of narcissistic behaviour over the years.

As outlined by Brittanica, narcissism is a clinical term for pathological self-absorption, and was first identified as a mental disorder back in 1898 by British physician Havelock Ellis.

According to Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, it is a normal stage in childhood development but is considered a disorder when it occurs after puberty.

Life coach Mark Fennell has shared his five top signs to recognise a narcissist – especially during an argument.

In a recent TikTok video, he explained: “I've been life coaching people for 20 years and I've seen my fair share of narcissistic behaviour.”

Fennell went on to list out the five signs in detail, starting with the first: “They play the victim,” he said.

"Because they are a victim of what happened, they’re not the cause of anything whatsoever. They’re always the victim, and they’ll always play the victim card.”

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Fennell continued to say: “Number two: denial. They will always deny everything and anything that points at them as being a cause.

“They will never take ownership and they will never take responsibility. Instead, they will deny.”

The expert said the third sign was ‘deflection’, adding: “They will deflect away from themselves and suddenly you’ll find that the conversation is becoming about you and not about them.”

He continued: “Number four: they will gaslight you.

“They will make you doubt how you perceive the situation.

“They’ll say things like, ‘Oh, it wasn’t like that’, ‘I didn’t mean it like this’.

“They will make you doubt what you believed happened and how you would call what happened.”

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And finally, a fifth sign is that, ‘when the other four options haven’t worked for them, they will become attacking and aggressive’.

“This is to intimidate you and make you back off,” Fennell said.

Commenting on the post, one person wrote: “People overuse the word narcissist a lot, just for a toxic behaviour, but there’s a difference.

"I've known people who are rude and toxic, but not a narcissist. I wish people understood it more."

When someone asked if a narcissist ever ‘knew they are a narcissist’, Fennell replied: “Generally everyone else is the issue in their mind.”

Another said that narcissistic people ‘never’ apologise, with Fennell adding: “Never unless they have severe intervention but most unlikely.”