Narcissistic Anger

Often the alcoholic combines anger and self-pity and feels victimized by the world; the alcoholic can justify abusive behavior on the ground that others deserved it or “asked” for it. This type of destructive anger is identified in the Big Book as a dangerous emotion for alcoholics: “If we were to live, we had to be free from anger. The grouch and the brainstorm were not for us. They may be the dubious luxury of normal men, but for alcoholics these things are poison.”

Little Red Book;

Step Four, pp. 63-64:

Hazelden Publication

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The alcoholic suffers, to a large degree, the character traits of narcissism: self-centered and unable to sustain interpersonal relationships, difficulty with empathy, hypersensitivity to insults, vulnerability to shame rather than guilt, haughty attitude and body language, pretending to be more important than they are, bragging and exaggerating their achievements, claiming to be an expert at many things, inability to view the world from the perspective of other people and denial of remorse. Most of all, there is a sense of entitlement that never ends well.
    We can easily see that these character traits aren’t isolated to alcoholics. These would be characteristic of many with a disconnection from reality that is often encouraged in a culture that glorifies instant fame over a more gradual and rewarding acquisition of wisdom. We tend to blame others for our failures and that can turn into murderous rampages in the more extreme cases and this appears to be what happened to the ex-police officer that went rogue this week. I don’t have an answer for this other than a planned and rigorous honesty brought about by some sort of spiritual renewal process. This is what the Twelve Steps are about in AA but I’m afraid that there is no such program for those who are lost in a sick culture that glorifies destructive behavior.

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