Have you ever encountered a narcissist? Would you know the person was a narcissist if you encountered them? Apparently it has become easier than ever to spot a narcissist, all you have to do is ask them. The recent Stale.com article “Are you a Narcissist” examines this recent development in the never-ending debate on narcissism and how it should be classified.

Narcissus is so in love with himself that he has totally missed out on boobs.

“Echo and Narcissus” by John William Waterhouse Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The nature versus nurture debate with narcissists will rage on but it seems that you no longer need a huge psychological battery of questions to identify them. According to the article, narcissists find themselves to be so awesome and superior to their fellow human beings that they have no problem admitting their narcissism to others. Yup, that sounds about right. This issues strikes a real emotional chord with Asha, who has often thought that she might be a beacon for narcissists and sociopaths alike. Asha is still smarting from her recent break up with a narcissist who wined and dined her initially to get his manipulative mitts on her. Then the manipulation intensified to soaring heights culminating in him blaming her for his drunk driving and all of his life problems and then breaking up with her via text message.

While some of you are saying, “Asha, it sounds like he was just an asshole, how can you be so sure he was a narcissist?” Rest assured, dear reader, he was in fact a narcissist. He fits all of the defining characteristics, which are highlighted here: http://www.businessinsider.com/20-traits-of-a-narcissist-2013-2?op=1.

So what can you do to combat and minimize encounters with narcissists, especially if you find yourself, like Asha, to be a beacon for them? You can find ways to use your past exposure to narcissists to your advantage. If someone is exhibiting the characteristics that are highlighted in the link above then run for the hills. I think that is the easy part; the hard part comes if you are dealing with a narcissist that is deeply entrenched in your life like a parent, spouse, or maybe even child. What can you do if the narcissist is not someone that you can easily escape from? This article outlines some techniques for dealing with a narcissist. Unfortunately, our suggestion of sending them all to Narcissist island, where they can see if they can out manipulate each other was not on the list, but it should be.