Narcissistic Supply

The external validation that a narcissist requires to keep their false persona going so that they can feel special is known as ‘Narcissistic supply’. And narcissistic supply is a narcissist’s fuel, their oxygen. They need it above and beyond anything else to stay feeling special.

Imagine that narcissistic supply is stored in a bucket with a hole in it - it is constantly draining away, and so constantly needs to be replenished. Imagine several watering cans continually pouring narcissistic supply into the leaking bucket, to keep the level up. These watering cans are all the narcissist’s different sources of supply - their partners, their former partner, their children, their friends, their family, their work colleagues and their casual acquaintances.

Narcissistic supply, that fuel, that external validation that the narcissist needs to keep the armour of their false persona up (to protect them from their true feelings of worthlessness) comes in five major forms, which you may recognise.

The five ways that a narcissist gets their narcissistic supply are through:

Attention

Adoration

Drama

Conflict

Instilling fear into others