For example, my car is parked in a single lane driveway, mom's car is in the garage, she opens the garage door, zooms backwards and puts a hole in my front bumper with her trailer hitch. Then she comes inside to wake me up and yell at me. Is that just an extension of narcissism or what words are there to describe someone like that?

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[–] 75 points 5 months ago (6 children)

Deflection: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/deflection

The act of attacking or blaming another person rather than accepting criticism or blame for your own actions: Deflection is a psychological defense mechanism.

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  • [–] [S] 21 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    Ya definitely deflection, is there a word for people who chronically do this?

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  • [–] 58 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    I've often thought the word "asshole" fits..

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  • [–] 15 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    I don't disagree. But seeing as OP specifically asked for a word, I'm inclined to offer the most specific, most descriptive word I can muster that is germane to what they've described.

    IMO, precision of language is paramount when it comes to addressing other people's problematic behavior, because it closes the door on excuses like "it's just a simple misunderstanding" or "that's just their opinion".

    The most poignant example I've heard of are from parents that make absolutely certain that their children learn the proper names for their body parts. As in, not "hoo-hah" or "privates" but the actual, unambiguous clinical names. This is a marked improvement than the TV trope of "where on the doll did the bad man touch you".

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  • [–] 43 points 5 months ago
    [–] 38 points 5 months ago* (1 child)

    I think what she's doing is called externalization. She's not able to recognize and/or tolerate her own internal state and is projecting onto you. Maybe she feels shame for what happened and can't tolerate feeling shame, so she's treating you like you should feel ashamed. All this is arguable though

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  • [–] 16 points 5 months ago

    This was my surmise as well. Could stem from plain emotional immaturity, needn't be full-blown narcissism. It's the reaction of a child who can't process a negative emotion.

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  • [–] 34 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (7 children)

    A Narcissist's Prayer

    That didn't happen.

    And if it did, it wasn't that bad.

    And if it was, that's not a big deal.

    And if it is, that's not my fault.

    And if it was, I didn't mean it.

    And if I did, you deserved it.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    Is this a real thing? It's pretty funny

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Oh I can assure you it's real. But it's easy to see, even trump follows (followed - now he doesn't need to anymore) this logic.

    Its not funny if you have a pathological narcissist in your vicinity.

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  • [–] 33 points 5 months ago

    Reminds me of when we sent a tech out to someone's home to set up a workstation. The wife of the guy getting the workstation backed into his car, and drove off.

    After seeing the damage to his car, our tech went to tell the husband, and before he could even say anything the husband said, "my wife hit your car, didn't she?"

    It's happened often enough that this guy didn't even need to be told. He knew.

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  • [–] 25 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    I hate how people use this word for everything nowadays, but it could actually be narcissism.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (2 children)

    Very much behavior shown by narcissists, as I understand it.

    A narcissist would often do it at an unconscious level. But it could also be psychopathy, where the psychopath completely deliberately lies to gain advantage. In the specific case cited by OP, the mom has no rational advantage of her behavior, so it would be narcissism and not psychopathy.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    It's also one of my personal triggers because my mom always did this. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume it was unconscious guilty avoidance as opposed to intentionally lying, but still, I could describe the situation accurately back to her and point out what she did that was wrong (we're not talking about a mistake or accident here, I only brought it up if it was an intentional action that hurt other members of my family) she would always have, "but they did this", or "I thought I was helping, excuse me for caring!"

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago*

    I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and assume it was unconscious guilty avoidance as opposed to intentionally lying,

    As I understand it, that is pretty much the definition of narcissism. Narcissism is defined by an underlying inferiority complex, which gives the narcissist a mental block preventing them from consciously realizing (and acting on) their own imperfections.

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago

    Darvo? Not really a word but it’s a thing.

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  • [–] 28 points 5 months ago (2 children)
    [–] 15 points 5 months ago

    Sociopath

    Psychopath

    Narcissist

    All three of those personality disorders could characterize that type of behavior.

    They do something wrong but it's never their fault. It's always someone else's fault.

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

    Christ, that's something my SO would do. And then later deny that the event ever occurred.

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  • [–] 11 points 5 months ago
    [–] 15 points 5 months ago

    It sounds like your mom's a bitch

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  • [–] 10 points 5 months ago (1 child)
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    [–] 37 points 5 months ago
    [–] 4 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    Isn't that the definition of "gaslighting"?

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago

    "Gaslighting" is a lie told where the victim knows it is a lie. So could be.

    But with one subtlety: If the "liar" is a narcissist, then the "lie" is often believed by the narcissist themselves, making it not a lie as such - since "lie" implies they know it is untrue.

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  • [–] 4 points 5 months ago

    Sounds like DARVO

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  • [–] 2 points 5 months ago
    [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    Narcissist. Just ask, what would Trump do? That's narcissism.

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  • [–] 1 point 5 months ago*

    That's so specific there has to be a yiddish word for it. IIRC a "schlemiel" is a guy who goes to a fancy dinner and spills his soup, and a "schlamazel" is the guy he spills it on. There has to be a word for somebody who uses scapegoats.

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