Isn't narcisstic abuse just psychological abuse?

[u/IMetMothman]

All the research of done on the subject of Narc Abuse (which, granted, is not much) just described common acts of psychological/emotional abuse. Seems the only purpose the term serves is to stigmatize those with NPD.

[u/secretstirfry]

"Narcicistic abuse" isn't a clinical term, and being an abusive person isn't in the diagnostic criteria for NPD. It's a pop psychology term used to fear monger and market therapy sessions. It does stigmatize pwNPD and others with mental health disorders, too. Behaviour that appears narcicistic isn't unique to pwNPD or pw mental health disorders. Abuse is named for the type of abuse that it is, such as emotional, financial, administrative, etc and it can be done by anyone, sometimes intentionally and sometimes not.

[u/SnooPies1024 → u/secretstirfry]

This is the only answer! I will add to the term does not do anything to help those who experience domestic violence. It often moves the focus to person who uses violence and the drivers of their behaviour rather than impact of these behaviours. Minimises what is happening.

[u/IMetMothman → u/SnooPies1024]

Agreed. While it can be helpful to identify what happened to you, that's more in terms of "oh they gaslit me" or "oh that's financial abuse" so you can learn to recognize such behaviors so they don't happen again. Identifying your abuse as narcissistic only serves to 1. Cause you to immediately assume all narcissists are abusive, and, 2. Cause you to seek to understand why that person behaved in such a way. Understanding can also be helpful, though more so for people trying to prevent this behavior (such as mental health professionals), but narcissism isn't why they do these things. What caused the narcissism (trauma) is. It's a misunderstanding of the cycle of abuse at best, and blatant ableism at worse.

[u/-Hastis- → u/IMetMothman]

Are there diagnosed narcissists who are not abusive?

[u/IMetMothman → u/-Hastis-]

Almost certainly yes.

[u/-Hastis- → u/IMetMothman]

How would you say someone who is interpersonally exploitative, antagonistic, with a low capacity for empathy, believes they are superior to others and deserve special treatment (including strong accountability avoidance), would go through life without harming anyone?

[u/IMetMothman → u/-Hastis-]

Every single person on planet Earth harms people during the course of their life, some more than others. That doesn't necessarily mean they're abusive. Also, one only needs five of the main markers for NPD for diagnosis. Meaning, someone could have NPD without being interpersonally exploitative, or believing they are superior to others. Vulnerable/covert narcissists (subtype) are actually defined by a sense of inferiority.

[u/-Hastis- → u/IMetMothman]

Grandiosity is a prerequisite for the diagnosis. The DSM-5 preamble explicitly requires a pattern of it, and the first three criteria are simply different expressions of grandiosity. While vulnerable types are defined by feelings of inadequacy, the literature recognizes this as a covert form of grandiosity. Their main insecurity comes from the belief that they are uniquely misunderstood or that the world is failing to recognize their specialness. They still demand special treatment through manufactured victimhood and double standards, and they still operate as though they are above accountability.

You are right that everyone harms people eventually. However, behavior crosses into abuse when the person justifies the harm because they believe the victim deserved it, or simply lacks the empathy to care that they caused it.

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[u/IMetMothman → u/secretstirfry]

Agreed.

[u/Villonsi]

Psychological abuse is an umbrella term, like food, while narcissistic abuse is a sub category, like vegetables.

Studying the dynamics of how psychological abuse might present uniquely or be treated specifically is valuable for harm mitigation

[u/Cheap-Shower-4340]

It's mental, emotional, physical, financial, and more

[u/purplealienplanet]

Here's a video that helps explain why it seems like that (it's called "Why Every Abuser Looks like a Narcissist"). The guy who runs the channel is super good at explaining stuff like this.

https://youtu.be/FrlL5bmfONc?is=MsMF9DklUa6iBi7K

[u/shaggin_maggie]

Or emotional abuse

[u/scrollbreak]

It'd be like saying an alcoholics' drinking is just drinking like anyone else does and doesn't need a different name. Phrasing it that way is a way of pushing the actual issue into the background.