Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Causes And Symptoms
The narcissistic people They do not usually frequent the consultations of psychology and mental health professionals, but it is quite common for some patients to report problems as a result of living 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.
We usually associate Narcissistic Personality Disorder with personalities from the world of entertainment: artists, actors, singers, intellectuals… They are those characters who, as it is colloquially said, “fame has gone to their heads.”
Of course, narcissism is not directly linked to socioeconomic position well-off of a person, but with the individual self-perception (that is, the perception of their worth, regardless of their social or economic position). The true essence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder lies there: the narcissistic person is absolutely convinced that oneself is superior to other people. The narcissist systematically compares himself with the people around him, and does not see anyone above him, but places many (or even all) below him.
In more technical terms, narcissism is characterized as a general pattern of grandiosity, little empathy in personal relationships, and need to be admired for the others.
What is a narcissistic person like?
People who suffer from Narcissistic Personality Disorder usually present themselves as individuals with strong self-esteem. This high self-confidence does not make them better people, since in the area of interpersonal relationships, they have important deficiencies.
The narcissist always needs to consider himself on a higher level than other people, either because he cannot tolerate some trait of those close to him, or because he has separated himself from his former contact with them. Because of this emotional disengagement from otherspeople with Narcissistic Personality Disorder lack authentic interest in others, which we can summarize by their low empathy. They are not very worried about what may happen to people around them, but instead focus all their attention on themselves.
They only approve of third parties when they revolve around their orbit, when they positively reinforce them through flattery and thus ratify their self-perception and their airs of greatness. Unfortunately, it is common for some family members 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 daily life
People who suffer from some degree of Narcissistic Personality Disorder export their self-sufficient manner and airs 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 that narcissistic people do not feel at all comfortable when they have to travel on public transport or when they have to be admitted to a hospital, because they will tend to think that they deserve better treatment or They will complain if they are not granted certain privileges. If they have a good job, they usually use their money to buy watches, shoes, clothes or sports cars. high standingbecause they consider that they are deserving of these distinctions: their status and image of success is very important for a narcissist.
The narcissist’s speech tends to be self-referential. The narcissistic person expects his words to receive superior attention; It is not unusual for them to be petulant when talking about themselves, about their life, their (indisputable) opinion on things, demanding full attention to everything they say.
Although we are used to seeing people with a narcissistic profile on television or in the movies and we may even consider them funny and eccentric, the truth 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 by being very spiteful people, and they tend to maintain attitudes of resentment and revenge towards others. They usually enjoy making other people feel bad, in this way they increase their ego and their feeling of superiority. They are competitive and if they believe that someone can overshadow them, they will try to undermine that person’s prestige and reputation.
Summary
We are going to learn about some aspects of great relevance in clinical action for cases of people with a tendency toward narcissism.
Diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder
According to the classification developed and published in the DSM-V-TR, Narcissistic Personality Disorder has the following signs that can be useful to mental health professionals when establishing a diagnosis:
On the other hand, it must be remembered that people whose behaviors fall into the category of Narcissistic Personality Disorder can be very varied in their way of expressing this alteration. After all, each person is different and we cannot capture all the nuances of someone’s personality based on diagnostic manuals.
