The most basic evidence that we all have narcissistic injuries to one degree or another is impostor syndrome. Many people experience impostor syndrome; the question is the degree and consequences. The impostor syndrome consists precisely of the main attributes of narcissism: ⁃ shame, fear of exposure, disclosure of ignorance, shame; ⁃ comparison with others, more successful, knowledgeable, competent (and envy); ⁃ fear of rejection due to one’s incompetence, “no one will choose me.” And then you can assess the extent of the damage: 1. I’m a little anxious, I’m afraid of criticism, exposure, but I go ahead and do it; 2. I am very anxious, the sensations are distinctly unpleasant, I have difficulty doing things, a lot of energy is spent resisting the activity; 3. The sensations are so unpleasant, anxiety and fear are overwhelming, it’s easier to refuse and not do it. People with severe narcissistic traumatism cannot cope with these experiences, they do not start activities, or quickly abandon them. Here we can talk about self-doubt, low self-esteem, and so on. But in fact we are talking about a much more serious problem - the lack of formation of the ego structure. The ego of such a person is weak, unstable, underformed, and cannot sufficiently rely on itself. A person with a stable, strong Ego calmly takes on new activities, with interest and enthusiasm. Yes, he is also worried about the result, but it does not even occur to him to be ashamed of a possible failure. For such a person, failure does not equal “I am bad.” Where does the unstable, underformed Ego come from? From childhood, of course. The child did not have enough favorable conditions for development - the parents either “overpowered” them with harsh demands, “erased” the child’s own ego, or abandoned the child without attention and without sufficient support. After all, it was the encouraging words of the parents - “you can do it, try, everything will be fine!” turn into an introject - “I can handle it, everything will work out!” ***************More interesting and useful information on the topic of psychology and psychoanalysis on my Telegram channel: https://t.me/stashkova_psychoanalysta and also on the VK page: https://vk .com/stashkova_psychoanalyst