MALIGNANT NARCISSISM IS A SYNDROME CHARACTERIZED BY AN UNHEALTHY NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY DISORDER (NPD), ANTISOCIAL FEATURES, PARANOID TRAITS, AND EGOSYNTONIC AGGRESSION. OTHER SYMPTOMS MAY INCLUDE AN ABSENCE OF CONSCIENCE, A PSYCHOLOGICAL NEED FOR POWER, AND A SENSE OF IMPORTANCE. A "SEVERE MENTAL SICKNESS" REPRESENTING "THE QUINTESSENCE OF EVIL", "THE MOST SEVERE PATHOLOGY AND THE ROOT OF THE MOST VICIOUS DESTRUCTIVENESS AND INHUMANITY", A "REGRESSIVE ESCAPE FROM FRUSTRATION BY DISTORTION AND DENIAL OF REALITY", "A DISTURBING FORM OF NARCISSISTIC PERSONALITY WHERE GRANDIOSITY IS BUILT AROUND AGGRESSION AND THE DESTRUCTIVE ASPECTS OF THE SELF BECOME IDEALIZED"