My Narcissistic, Conservative, Mormon Mother

Happy Mother’s Day!  I was originally going to write about why everyone should play more video games, but given the date I thought this would be more appropriate.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I love my mother.  Over my lifetime she has gone from being very screwed up and abusive to being only mildly narcissistic, and I think her love for her family has been a large part of that change (though she will never admit that she has changed at all).  I know that maybe that’s wishful thinking, but it’s what I like to hope.  I’ll just touch on a few of those.

We’ll start with the narcissism.  My mother has Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  In other words, she always has to be the center of attention, she always has to be right, and she will lash out at any opinion that conflicts with her own using some screwed-up, nonsensical logic.  The truly sad part about this is that people with this disorder are generally incurable and untreatable because they are not capable of acknowledging any of their flaws.  Going over to my parents’ today means that I will have to suppress any opinions I might have around my mother.  The best way to deal with a narcissist is to smile and nod because arguing with them is a losing battle, regardless of how wrong or ridiculous they sound.

As for being Mormon and conservative, this ties in very heavily to the narcissism.  My mother latches onto these things and champions them around over everyone else, despite any logic to the contrary.  She’ll parade around Republican and Mormon authority figures as if they were gods delivering The Ten Commandments.  The entire world is black and white to her, with no gray area, and she will bring up these things at every chance she has.  As someone that has rejected the Mormon faith and is critical of conservative politics (and liberal for that matter), it can be very difficult to be around her, but the fact remains that I’ll try because she is my mother and I love her for that.

So I’ll call that a wrap.  Tune in tomorrow for some great musings on why video games are awesome and you should play more of them.

my riot inside