Number one: the illusion of eternal youth. A narcissist isn’t just afraid of aging; they are haunted by it. They aren’t mourning their body getting older; no, they are mourning the death of attention, the shift in power, and the loss of the upper hand they once had just by walking into a room. Youth for them was never about vitality; it was about control. They remember how people looked at them, how easy it was to seduce, manipulate, and dominate. When you have used your appearance all your life as a weapon, growing older does not feel like a natural process; it feels like losing your only defense.
So they fight it. They overdo it—how? With surgeries, filters, diets, and bizarre trends. They don’t care how unnatural they look; what matters is that people are still looking, that people are still watching. And if they can’t be youthful, they will try to surround themselves with it. How? By dating younger, dressing younger, talking younger, and laughing louder than anyone else in the room. They will risk looking ridiculous just to make people forget how old they are.
But here is the dark part people do not talk about: some narcissists will sabotage the younger people around them, especially those who remind them of who they used to be. A mother competing with her teenage daughter’s beauty, a boss undermining a talented new recruit, an influencer trying to destroy a rising creator behind the scenes. They do not want to just look young; they want to be the only ones who hold that energy. Anyone who carries youth naturally becomes a threat, and threats must be dealt with quietly, strategically, and without ever getting their hands dirty. They will risk their child’s trust, their reputation, and the kind of aging that is graceful, real, and human—all to avoid looking like someone whose time has passed. It’s not about staying young; it’s about staying powerful. When that illusion starts to crack, they panic. They will spiral and start clinging to people, possessions, and promises that give them even a glimpse of what they lost. It’s never enough, though, but they keep trying.
Status Symbols, Fake Influence, and Dirty Money
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