My mother is a malignant narcissist and my father is a psychopath. I was unaffected by my parents’ not so great behavior, however, as I’m psychopathic myself (psychopathy & sociopathy are called Antisocial Personality Disorder in the DSM-5, and that’s one of the biggest categorical mistakes in there). My little sister though, is another story, she had a far more difficult time and is riddled with PTSD, depression, anxiety, and she has dissociative identity disorder (DID).

As many fights as I’ve been in with my father (he and I are both incredibly willful), my mother is all in all the more difficult one to deal with. My father and I are also far healthier than we used to be and have become quite “pro social” and are what’s called “successful” psychopaths by some.

My mother, not so much. She’s still very unhealthy and loves to play the usual games narcissists play.

My mother loves to think of herself as an “introvert” because it fits her image of being oh so above everyone else because “introvert” is a trendy word to mean a misunderstood genius who must “turn inward” from time to time to get a break from the cruel word that just won’t ever understand her. (Cue the “woe is me” nonsense.)

I’ve learned that for my mother, “introverted” and “turning inward” means she has an excuse to inflict the silent treatment on whoever’s slighted her ego recently. Pfft.