Millon describes these for the narcissist as follows: “The internalized representations of past experiences are deeply embedded and serve as a template for evaluating new life experiences. For the narcissistic person, these object representations are composed far more than usual of illusory and changing memories. Problematic past relationships are readily refashioned so as to appear entirely consonant with the narcissistic individual’s high sense of self-worth. Unacceptable impulses and deprecatory evaluations are quickly transformed so as to enable this personality to maintain a preferred and contrived image of both the self and his or her past. Most narcissistic individuals were led by their parents to believe that they were invariably lovable and perfect, regardless of what they did and what they thought. As a consequence, the narcissistic person must transform the less palatable aspects of his or her past so that they are consistent with what he or she wishes they were, rather than what they were in fact.”1
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Click on the note number to return to where you were above; click on the author's name to go to the bibliographic entry.1Millon, 1998, pp. 85-86