{"id":37420,"date":"2023-10-11T21:38:27","date_gmt":"2023-10-12T02:38:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=37420"},"modified":"2023-10-11T21:38:27","modified_gmt":"2023-10-12T02:38:27","slug":"most-narcissists-instinctively-steal-approval-that-you-deserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?p=37420","title":{"rendered":"Most narcissists instinctively steal approval that you deserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I couldn\u2019t get the attention and approval that I needed from my narcissistic father. I craved his attention and approval when I was a child \u2014 and I kept craving those things from him as an adult. If someone had suggested this to me 15 years ago, I would have denied it. I just wouldn\u2019t have been able to accept that I still needed the approval that I never got when I was young.<\/p>\n

When I was growing up, I received a lot of attention and praise from other people. I was a very high achiever as a child. I did receive attention and approval from many other people over the years for the things I did, but I felt like a fraud \u2014 as though I didn\u2019t deserve it \u2014 all because he would not give me the approval I was seeking.<\/p>\n

Every time I got recognition or praise or awards, I had one eye on him \u2014 and I was silently asking whether this one would finally be good enough for him.<\/p>\n

This is the next in a series of videos dealing with issues that come up for me to think about as I write a book about my childhood experience of growing up with a narcissistic father. You can visit that YouTube channel<\/a> to subscribe to future videos. (Liking and subscribing help me quite a bit in reaching others with the videos.) Or you can watch the most recent video below.<\/p>\n