"the narcissist has an overpowering need to feel important and special, and the co-dependent has a strong need to help others feel that way. ... The narcissist overdoes self-caring and demands it from others, while the co-dependent underdoes or may even do almost no self-caring."
narcissist and codependent "participate together in a form of an ego-defense system called projective identification."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissists
In everyday speech, "narcissism" often means inflated self-importance, egotism, vanity, conceit, or simple selfishness. In psychology, the term is used to describe both normal self-love and unhealthy self-absorption due to a disturbance in the sense of self.
1899 Paul Näcke used "narcissism" to describe men who were sexually excited by their own bodies rather than someone else's.
Today, in psychology, narcissistic personality disorder is a mental illness characterized by a lack of empathy, a willingness to exploit others, and an inflated sense of self-importance.
