Nonsense Stacking — A Favorite Technique of Narcissists

Narcissists create confusion and bafflement in order to control situations and their victims.

Photo from Pixabay

In the vein of gaslighting and word salads there is another tactic that narcissists use — nonsense stacking.

I heard this phrase when I was listening to a podcast about politicians and campaigns. The podcaster said that a common practice in the political arena is to stack layers of nonsensical stories and claims on top of each other so that each piece of nonsense supports all of the other pieces.

Sounded like narcissists to me.

Not that all politicians are narcissistic. But using half-truths and lies to perpetuate a fantasy is certainly something narcissists do. And nonsense stacking is an apt term for this common narcissistic technique.

First let’s look at synonyms for nonsense:

· Rubbish

· Poppycock

· Gobbledygook

· Garbage

· Baloney

· Hot Air

· Noise

· Babble

Or we can just look at the word itself. It is a combination of “non” and “sense”. Non means not, other than, reverse of or absence of. So when you use one of these…