Die Tendenz, sich als ewiges Opfer zu fühlen, hängt eng mit dem verletzlichen Narzissmus zusammen. Personen, die sich häufig als Opfer wahrnehmen und diesen Status anderen signalisieren, weisen häufig ein hohes Maß an verletzlichem Narzissmus und emotionaler Instabilität auf.

**The tendency to feel like a perpetual victim is strongly tied to vulnerable narcissism**

A new study published in Personality and Individual Differences has found that a persistent “victim mentality” is strongly linked to narcissistic personality traits. The findings suggest that individuals who frequently perceive themselves as victims and signal this status to others often possess high levels of vulnerable narcissism and emotional instability. This research indicates that for some people, **the tendency to see oneself as a victim is less about actual trauma and more about a specific personality structure that seeks recognition and validation.**

For those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886925005604

Just a small but of nuance to add to this, this is NOT talking about people who feel like perpetual victims because they are perpetually being victimized through things like systemic abuse, ableism, racism, illness, etc.

One of the biggest differences between victims and victim mentality, is the use of something called DARVO. 

D – Deny(,) 
A – Attack(,)
R – Reverse 
V – Victim (and) 
O – Offender 

Basically when someone insists they are the victim, even when they’re the offender. 

Pleeeease don’t confuse it with being a victim. Victim mentality ≠ learned helplessness, those are different terms. And learned helplessness is tone deaf to say to people who are victims of systemic things and or in abusive situations