Narcissism is perilous. It is a human behavior that almost everyone, at some point in their life, will either see in others or themselves. For those who have been absorbed by it, their life would start to deteriorate. One by one, the important necessities of their life would disappear and narcissistic people would be too conceited to even care until they have lost everything. This turns into depression and later, suicide. In the Annals of General Psychiatry, they wrote about how narcissism can lead to “the wish to kill oneself in a depressed state” (Suicide Risk in Narcissistic People). 

In many stories, poems, and novels, there is usually an antagonist who demonstrates some level of narcissism. In the Shakespearean Play, Othello, the antagonist is Iago. His role in the play was to get revenge on Othello (the protagonist) for not selecting him for lieutenantship. Iago always believed he was the better candidate for the job and his belief that he is better than anybody else helped in revealing his narcissistic personality. At the end of the play, he was captured and imprisoned for life for his actions. 

There have been many studies on mental disorders that relate to narcissism. One of these studies is the Dunning-Kruger Effect. This is the idea that those who think poorly of themselves exceed in intelligence and those who think highly of themselves have low intelligence. This is similar to narcissism because it works similarly. Narcissistic people aren’t humble as they boast about anything, interchangeable with the Dunning-Kruger Effect. 

In the Middle East, Nothern Africa, and parts of Asia, there are many cases of honor killings. These are when the husband will kill his spouse for various reasons without treason in most cases. This contradicts when a wife kills her spouce as she will be arrested and charged for her crimes almost every time. Those who think that they have any right to kill their better half as a way of superiority can be seen as narcissistic. There should never be an instance where killing a wife/husband is acceptable and thinking so is wrong.

Every person is genetically different from each other, both physically and mentally. However, fostering an emotion like narcissism can have dangerous effects on individuals and communities. From learning about real-life instances and stories, it can be easy to identify the damage done over time. Highlighting individual growth in humility can help stimulate personal growth in relationships. Rejecting violence whenever present will improve safety and will decrease any abuse from a person who exhibits narcissistic beliefs. Acknowledging a person’s faults and understanding how to improve will improve society for the better.