How to Starve a Narcissist of Attention (2024)

Politics aside, we can all agree that Donald J. Trump is a narcissist. When he doesn’t get the attention, he thinks he deserves — a mind-blowing amount, he strikes out, has a meltdown, or acts outrageously. He’s never been one for taking the high road, and he appears to be incapable of showing any grace.

On the surface, it may seem as if narcissists are like regular people — they might have their moments where they go over the top, but that’s just them being emotional or feeling things deeply.

Words that describe narcissistic behavior include arrogant, co*cky, manipulative, selfish, demanding, and self-centered. They’re not known for being generous (unless used as a ploy,) considerate, or empathetic.

However, narcissists aren’t like you or me. If you have to deal with one or witness one on the news, it’s a good idea to be able to identify their narcissistic behavior, know how to deal with it so that you’re not affected, and how to handle their manipulative ways until you can get them completely out of your life.

Narcissists have an excessive need for attention; if they’re not the center of attention at all times, there’s a problem. It would be impossible to be around a narcissist with their overwhelming need to be center stage if they weren’t so charming and captivating.

It’s the narcissist’s ability to draw you in and fascinate you where the real danger comes in. Once they’ve got you hooked, it’s hard to get out of their web. And if you think the narcissist is just going to let you be, you’re wrong.

Narcissists need people to be enthralled by them so that they can feed off the attention and reverence. But once the facade has worn thin, and you start to see the narcissist for who they are, how do you get out from their grasp.

You must stop giving the narcissist what they need, but how do you do that?