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Narcissistic Personality Disorder: causes and symptoms

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: causes and symptoms

March 28, 2024

The narcissistic people They do not usually attend the consultations of psychology and mental health professionals, but it is quite common for some patients to report problems as a result of coexistence with people with a narcissistic profile.

Likewise, there are people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder in many areas, and of course also in public life or in the media.

What is Narcissism?

We usually associate the Narcissistic Personality Disorder with personalities from the world of show business: artists, actors, singers, intellectuals ... These are the characters who, as they say colloquially, "fame has risen to the head".


Of course, narcissism is not directly linked to the socio-economic position accommodated of a person, but with the self-perception of the individual (that is, the perception of their worth, regardless of their social or economic position). The true essence of the Narcissistic Personality Disorder is there: the narcissistic person is absolutely convinced that one is superior to the rest of the people. The narcissist systematically compares himself to the people around him, and sees no one above him, but places many (or even all) below.

In more technical terms, narcissism is characterized as a general pattern of grandiosity, scant empathy in personal relationships, and need to be admired for others.


How is a narcissistic person?

People who suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder tend to show themselves as individuals with a strong self-esteem. This high self-confidence does not make them better people, since in the field of interpersonal relationships, they have important deficiencies .

The narcissist always needs to consider himself on a higher plane than other people, either because he does not support some trait of these close friends, or because he has dissociated himself from his old contact with them. Because of this affective detachment towards others , people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder lack a genuine interest in others, which we can summarize by their lack of empathy. They are not very concerned about what might happen to people around them, but they focus all their attention on themselves.


They only approve third parties when they revolve around their orbit, when they reinforce them positively based on flattery and thus ratify their self-perception and their airs of greatness. Unfortunately, it is common for some relatives and friends of narcissistic people to fulfill this role of unconditional "admirers", surprised by the halo of confidence that the narcissist gives off.

The personality of the narcissist and his day to day

People who suffer some degree of Personality Narcissistic Disorder export their way of being self-sufficient and the air of grandiosity beyond the family environment. They are usually individuals who develop in life and take advantage of their way of thinking about themselves.

It is common for narcissistic people not to feel at all comfortable when they have to travel by public transport or when they have to enter a hospital, because they will tend to think that they deserve a better treatment or they will complain if they do not grant them certain privileges . In the case that they have a good job, they usually use their money to buy watches, shoes, clothes or sports cars. high standing, because they consider that they are worthy of these distinctions: their status and the image of success is very important for a narcissist.

Narcissistic discourse tends to be self-referential . The narcissistic person expects his words to receive superior attention; It is not uncommon for them to be petulant talking about themselves, about their life, their (indisputable) opinion about things, demanding full attention to everything they say.

Although we are accustomed to seeing people of narcissistic profile on television or in the cinema and we can even consider them funny and eccentric, the fact is that routine personal contact with a person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder can be irritating. In addition to their egocentric behavior that we have already mentioned, they are also characterized as being very spiteful, and often maintain attitudes of resentment and revenge towards others. They usually enjoy making other people feel bad, in this way they swell their ego and their feeling of superiority. They are competitive and if they believe that someone can overshadow them, they will try to undermine the prestige and reputation of that person.

Summary

We will know some aspects of great relevance in the clinical performance for cases of people with a tendency to narcissism.

Diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder

According to the classification developed and published in the DSM-V-TR, the Narcissistic Personality Disorder has the following signs that can be useful to mental health professionals when establishing a diagnosis :

  • They feel an excessive sense of grandiosity.
  • They are permanently preoccupied with fantasies of power, success, beauty or love.
  • They are people who think they are special and try to have their status recognized.
  • They demand excessive admiration from others.
  • They express their feeling of "being in their right". That is, they have irrational expectations about the treatment they deserve.
  • They take advantage of other people for their own purposes (Machiavellianism ).
  • Lack of empathy, that is, they are unable to identify themselves or recognize the feelings and emotions of other people.
  • They feel envious of others, or believe that others feel envy.
  • They tend to be arrogant.

On the other hand, we must remember that people whose behavior falls under the category of Narcissistic Personality Disorder can be very varied in their way of expressing this alteration. After all, each person is a world and we can not capture all the nuances of someone's personality based on diagnostic manuals.

Bibliographic references:

  • AMERICAN PSYCHIATRIC ASSOCIATION (APA). Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-TR. Barcelona: Masson. 2002
  • Alarcón, R. D .; Sarabia, S. (2012). "Debates on the Narcissism Conundrum: Trait, Domain, Dimension, Type, or Disorder?". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease. 200 (1): 16-25.
  • NHL.NIH.GOV (MEDLINEPLUS). "Narcissistic Personality Disorder". Rescued from this link.
  • Schulze, L .; Dziobek, I .; Vater, A .; Heekeren, H. R .; Bajbouj, M .; Renneberg, B .; Heuser, I .; Roepke, S. (2013). "Gray matter abnormalities in patients with narcissistic personality disorder". Journal of Psychiatric Research. 47 (10): 1363-69.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder ¦ Treatment and Symptoms (March 2024).


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