Trauma for the vulnerable: Real or imagined?

ABSTRACT

@#Linn is a twenty-year-old female who grew up silently competitive while feeling inferior, and still excelling academically in the background of bullying and social exclusion. This report proposes that the vulnerability to trauma or to the perception of being traumatized can be related to the individual’s level of narcissism. Trauma-associated narcissistic symptoms (TANS) are a result of experiencing a stressor as an affront to the grandiose self. A traumatic disequilibrium occurs in a narcissistically vulnerable self. In both TANS and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), secondary symptoms of anxiety and depression can significantly color the patient’s clinical presentation. Individuals can develop both TANS and PTSD, displaying a mixed clinical presentation. Psychotherapy with the primary goal to restore narcissistic equilibrium is recommended.