Yes, the best way to cope it to get away, but it can be hard. They are really good at twisting your mind and getting you hooked. I'm still recovering from my marriage.

@EricTrommater A boss or two! Blatant favoritism. She once got a 4/5 on a yearly review! The article quoted a board member as saying that she had done "excellent" and was "one of the best." Faculty and staff laughed. Since when is an 80% (We all must use the same grading scale) more than a B-? That's not excellent in anyone's academic grade book.

Lots of people seem like narcissists to me. I also might be one. People seem to only give a shit about their own lives or well-being. They mostly have personal life goals, not macro social goals. But then again people think I'm self-absorbed because I criticize this way of life and think that my interests are really what's important (politics, philosophy, morality, etc.). But this was after a life of being criticized myself for my own way of life and thinking.

Two bosses, at two different jobs, about 20 years apart. Eventually lost it and said things I shouldn't have. I didn't need that frickin' job anyway. (My own worst enemy, especially when I was younger.)