I roomed with a narcissist during college. What I observed was that she could not allow herself to think she’d ever done anything wrong, lost anything, or made a bad decision, because her ego was too fragile to accept that.

Narcisstic people, like my former roomie, lack emotional resiliency. They really cannot withstand having their secret insecurities brought out into the open. They’re fist instinct is always to hide any weaknesses. They have to keep that ego propped up, or they fall apart.