The Narcissist's One-Up Inferiority Complex

Hello survivors. I am going to talk about this emotional problem which narcissists have, which I would like to call the "One-Up Inferiority Complex". It has been developed over a long period of time, It is an emotional problem caused by unreasonable fears or worries. The root cause of this is childhood abuse/neglect or a traumatic experience. This later developed the narcissist's inner critic. This is the voice inside their heads telling them that they are not good enough, they cannot do anything right, or they are inferior. The narcissist's inner critic then develops into their inferiority complex. I believe that their inferiority complex is a symptom of their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). I believe that their one-up complex is their post-traumatic stress response (PTSR). They are responding to the stress of their traumas by trying to one-up you. It is their past traumas that making them feel inferior and not good enough. These feelings arise when you are in their presence, because they believe that you are superior to them. This then triggers their PTSR. Your presence, progress, success and good qualities resurfaces their past traumas.

The narcissist is having an emotional flashback where they were the victim of someone else who had a one-up complex, inferiority complex. An inferiority complex surfaces whenever the feelings of their inferiority become intense. We already know that narcissists have low self-esteem and low self-worth. They are also full of self-hate, anger and envy. And these negative qualities which they possess are linked perfectly with their inferiority complex. Their inferiority complex is triggered usually through discouragement or failure but even you just being there and presenting yourself. Presenting your good qualities can trigger them to attack. When an emotionally healthy person feels inferior in any situation, they will self-reflect and immediately identify that these feelings are unreasonable. They will realize that there is no justification for them to feel this way. But of course, the narcissist doesn't do that. The narcissist cannot self-reflect. Their only other option is to one-up you. You are like pornography to them. Their emotional and psychological abuse is the masturbation and believe me, they are getting off. They have to abuse and manipulate you, to create the illusion that they are actually above you. But if this was true, they wouldn't need to do any of that. You have become a tool which they use to regulate their emotions, to regulate their self-worth and self-esteem. But it's called self-worth and self-esteem for a reason. Those qualities are supposed to come from within, otherwise they're not real, they're just an illusion of self-worth and self-esteem. They are obsessed with trying to win, with no end. Yet, they believe they have won. Well, if you have won, why are you still trying to win. You don't need to keep playing a game, competing, using a one-up complex if you have already won. But narcissists can never win because they have an inferiority complex.? So they will continue trying to compete with you, losing at every attempt. Because no matter what they do to you, you will continue to self-reflect.

There is no competition between someone who self-reflects and someone who has to dump their emotional baggage on to other people. They can never win. And this is why the competition with them never ends. I'd just like to finish off with an analogy, which I'm sure many of you can relate to, if you have dealt with a narcissist. Imagine a beach on a hot summer's day. When you were a child, just sitting on the sand minding your own business. You just built a sand castle, and you felt so proud of what you just built. Then another kid comes a long and stamps all over it. Because they couldn't build a sand castle like that. And if you dare to re-build that sand castle, they will kick it back down while you're still trying to re-build it. They will wait around and watch you, so that you can never build that sand castle again. Because it is a reflection of everything they are not. That's the mindset these narcissists are still stuck in. They are as emotionally immature now as they were back then. They cannot build, they can only destroy. So if they can't build their own sand castle, they're going to destroy yours. And this was the birth of their one-up inferiority complex.