Narcissistic Personality Disorder

DisclaimerThis page is not here to be used as a self-diagnosis, self-identification, or promotion - it's simply here to be informational. Whether or not one self-diagnoses, self-identifies, and/or seeks a professional diagnosis is up to them.

**Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)** is a pattern of feeling very self-important, needing admiration from others, and having little feelings for others. Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder come across as selfish or superior, but it's because they're making up for a fragile sense of self-worth. This disorder can make it hard to get along with others.

### The Story of Narcissus

In Greek mythology, Narcissus was a very beautiful young man that many fell in love with. However, he only showed them disdain and contempt.

After he pushed away the Oread nymph, Echo, and told her not to disturb him, leading to her roaming around the woods in despair for the rest of her life, Nemesis, the goddess of retribution and revenge, decided to punish Narcissus for his behavior.

She led him to a pool, where the man saw his reflection in the water and fell in love with it. He did not realize that it was a reflection at first, but when he understood that it was, he fell into despair that his love could not materialize and committed suicide.

## Signs & Symptoms

Individuals with this disorder can:

* Have an exaggerated sense of self-importance.
* Have a sense of entitlement and require constant, excessive admiration.
* Expect to be recognize as superior even without achievements that warrant it.
* Exaggerate achievements and talents.
* Be preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate.
* Believe they are superior and can only associate with equally special individuals.
* Monopolize conversations and belittle or look down on individuals they perceive as inferior.
* Expect favors and unquestioning compliance with their expectations.
* Take advantage of others to get what they want.
* Have an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others.
* Be envious of others or believe others envy them.
* Behave in an arrogant or haughty manner, coming across as conceited, boastful or pretentious.
* Insists on having the best of everything.

At the same time, individuals with narcissistic personality disorder have trouble handling anything they perceive as criticism, and they can:

* Become impatient or angry when they don't receive special treatment.
* Have significant interpersonal problems and easily feel slighted.
* React with rage or contempt and try to belittle the other individual to make themselves appear superior.
* Have difficulty regulating emotions and behavior.
* Experience major problems dealing with stress and adapting to change.
* Feel depressed or moody because they fall short of perfection.
* Have secret feelings of insecurity, shame, vulnerability and humiliation.

### Diagnosis

For a diagnosis of NPD, individuals must have at least five of the following criteria:

* An exaggerated sense of self-importance.
* Fantasies of great success, power, attractiveness, beauty or ideal love.
* Believing themselves to be special, and only able to be understood by others who are also special.
* An increased sense of entitlement.
* A need for constant admiration or attention.
* Taking advantage of others, envying others, or believing others envy them.
* Arrogance and haughtiness.
* A lack of empathy.
* Envy towards others, or believing others are envious of them.

Like other personality disorders, NPD is not diagnosed until adulthood.

## Causes

The exact cause of NPD is not known. This disorder may result from a combination of factors that include:

* Childhood trauma.
* Early relationships with parents, friend and relatives.
* Genetics.
* Hypersensitivity to textures, noise or light in childhood.
* Personality and temperament.

## References

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9742-narcissistic-personality-disorder

https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/narcissistic-personality-disorder-npd

https://mentalhealth.org.nz/conditions/condition/narcissistic-personality-disorder

https://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/Mortals/Narcissus/narcissus.html