The tale of Narcissus is a sad one. 

A handsome young man, he fell in love with his own reflection and became consumed by it. The tragedy is, he never recognized that the reflection in the water was actually himself. He then died, never having developed real self-knowledge or truly knowing his own beauty and his own cruelty. 

You might wonder what this has to do with overbearing mothers. It turns out that narcissism, whether it is a full-blown personality disorder or a nonclinical personality trait, can show up in parenting as an overbearing and engulfing presence....[1500 words]