Damaged People

Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society

Damaged People: Narcissism and the Foundation of a Dysfunctional American Society is an independently published book by debut author Thomas Avant. The book discusses narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), the collective narcissism inherent in today’s social and political realms, and the ultimate damage caused by individual and collective narcissists in terms of racism, bigotry, toxicity in the workplace, democratic decay, political stagnation, broken families, anti-intellectualism, and a range of other sociopsychological factors prevalent in society today.

This candid memoir, interwoven with scholarly research, delves further into America’s history of racism and collective narcissism. It also discusses how anti-intellectualism and an uninformed electorate have played significant roles in our lack of healthy development as a nation. Damaged people and institutions continue to stunt our growth as a nation and democracy.

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Narcissists fear self-awareness and evaluation and elude truth because of what may be revealed about themselves. Deep-rooted insecurity fuels the fear of guilt and vulnerability. As James Baldwin stated in Going to Meet the Man: This Morning, This Evening: “It is astonishing the lengths to which a person, or a people, will go in order to avoid a truthful mirror.” This is one of the reasons it’s so difficult for narcissists to seek and find a cure for their personality disorder. No matter how much physical/emotional/psychological damage they cause to those around them, they usually aren’t willing to admit they have a problem. It’s always the victim’s, or someone else’s, fault. Depending on the level of narcissism inherent in the individual, it can be impossible to confront the narcissist on their behavior and get any resolution or reconciliation. Through gaslighting, role reversal, and victim blaming, they completely shut down the complainant, rendering resolution/reconciliation impossible. It’s also difficult to forgive someone who can’t admit they’ve caused any pain or damage and who continues to exhibit the same behavior and victimize others. This leads to the only plausible scenario: “no-contact” with the oppressor. This can be extremely difficult if the oppressor is a family member, colleague, boss, or someone close to the victim.

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Damaged people damage others. In the book, Avant refers to damaged people as those whose narcissistic impulses, instincts, desires, and behaviors cause extensive harm to those in their orbit and under their control and authority. While we all have probably experienced narcissists in our lives - whether it’s family, the workplace, friends or acquaintances, school, religious and social organizations, or all of the above - many who are victims of narcissism may not understand what they are experiencing. The book, hopefully, helps shed light on the psychology and effects of narcissism in our lives. Narcissism is one of the major, while somewhat hidden, issues of the day, particularly since it affects so many lives in one way or another.

While it’s always been an issue, the prevalence of narcissism today is quite staggering as narcissists are parents, business leaders, politicians, neighbors, friends, and relatives. They have caused severe and lasting consequences in our families, institutions, and every aspect of our society. Narcissists project the damage they feel internally onto those around them. The personality disorder can be a driving factor for behavior such as greed, power and control hunger, and attention/approval seeking. Narcissism is usually deep rooted in insecurity, while narcissists may seem to outwardly exude confidence and be more outgoing. Unless they find the strength to reverse the trend, many who are victims of narcissists - those who have been emotionally manipulated, belittled, and victimized throughout their early lives - actually become a narcissist and abuser in adulthood, projecting the damage and pain they felt onto others throughout their lives.

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This searingly honesty account of the author’s view of the narcissistic society we inhabit and its lasting effects on us all will, hopefully, shed light on the connections between the psychology of the narcissist, our sorted American history, the current politically divisive and tumultuous climate in America, and the sociopsychological factors inherent in American society today.