A person’s blink rate naturally increases when they are feeling emotions like aggression, sadness, joy, or empathy. These feelings activate the brain’s limbic system, which in turn affects blinking. Narcissists are disconnected from true emotions; they are emotional zombies. They feel no real empathy, no genuine sorrow, and no true joy in another person’s happiness. Their reduced blink rate reflects this emotional disconnection as well. They are always performing, always watching, but never actually feeling.
You may have seen it before—the moment when their mask slips, when you say something they weren’t expecting, or confront them in a way they didn’t prepare for. For just a second, their eyes widen, and their blink rate spikes. This occurs because the narcissist’s mind is built on control. They maintain their lack of blinking because they are always aware of their performance. The moment something disrupts that control—something they cannot predict or manipulate—their physiology reacts. In other words, their eyes speak.
A sudden increase in blinking means their brain is experiencing unexpected cognitive load. They scramble to regain control, rework the script, and figure out how to maintain the upper hand. If you catch it, if you notice that break in their otherwise calculated demeanor, then you have just seen their biggest fear in real-time: losing control. That moment is what rattles them the most. Because the moment you see it, the moment you recognize that flicker of panic in their eyes, the power shifts. You stop seeing them as an all-knowing, untouchable, invincible force and start seeing them for what they really are: a performer struggling to keep the act together.
They do not blink because they are always working internally—always calculating, always ensuring the illusion stays intact. But illusions do not blink, nor does their control over you. So the next time you find yourself caught in their unblinking stare, do not flinch or break; just watch. Because in their need to control, they expose themselves. Once you see it, you can never unsee it. That is where your power begins.
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