Narcissistic Personality Disorder: How To Treat Narcissism?
Narcissism is a personality disorder characterized by self-centeredness and little empathy. The narcissistic person focuses on the “self” and uses others for their benefit.
He Narcissistic Personality Disorder It is a personality disorder characterized by egocentrism, the absence of empathy and an excessive estimation of one’s abilities. Although narcissism can be another personality trait related to self-love and high self-esteem, sometimes it can present as a pathology in which the person shows a disorder with an extreme need for superiority and admiration.
In this case is when a disorder manifests itself that can affect the relationship with others and with oneself. The narcissistic person He only conceives of the “I” and his personal relationships are based on the benefit he can get from them, going so far as to manipulate them to achieve his ends. Furthermore, people who suffer from this disorder do not get used to interacting with successful groups or individuals of the same intellectual or economic status. Narcissistic Personality Disorder causes the person to consider their life, their personality and their points of view as irrefutable and above those of other people.
He DSM-V (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) defines the Narcissistic Personality Disorder as a dominant pattern of grandeur (fantasy or behavior), which entails the need for admiration and a reduced capacity for empathy.
This diagnostic manual classifies narcissism within the chapter dedicated to Personality Disorders and highlights that it is the least common, with a prevalence of less than 1% in the general population and between 2-16% within the clinical population. He specifies that Narcissistic Personality Disorder has a higher incidence in men, with women being less prone, and that it begins to develop during the early stages of adult life. Although there are more narcissistic men than narcissistic women, the reality is that this effect affects both genders in the same way.
How to recognize a narcissistic person?
Recognize a narcissistic person It takes time since they very often present themselves as successful, seductive, pleasant and self-confident people, which in the first contacts can be very attractive.
“Narcissism should not be confused with self-love: the first enslaves, the second liberates”
After some time and by looking at his behavior, we discover behind this appearance an insecure psychological profile that pays too much attention to what others think of him and attributing blame for things to others. Egoism, manipulation and low self-esteem These are other qualities to recognize a narcissist. According to him Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders There are some points to take into account when the psychology professional can diagnose people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder:
It is shown as successful: On many occasions the narcissist feels important in a grandiose way. That is, both narcissistic women and narcissistic men consider that their success is unlimited, since one of the narcissistic traits It is conceiving yourself as someone brilliant and powerful. Therefore, they feel that they are far above other people, whom they find conventional. This is one of the least perceived characteristics of a narcissist.
Feel that it is unique: Normally the profile of a narcissistic pervert is characterized by a person who feels unique and stands out above others. So much so that narcissists tend to perceive themselves as having a very high status and only try to surround themselves with those people who have this level perceived by themselves.
They seek admiration: A narcissist usually demands constant admiration from others. In this way, one of the main characteristics of a narcissist is that he needs other people to show him fascination, both in his actions and in his achievements. This fact denotes a lack of self-esteem since it requires high approval from the environment.
Consider that you are worthy of everything: Both a narcissistic man and woman have characteristics typical of an egomaniac. Therefore, he believes that he deserves everything positive: from advantages due to his high abilities to considering his rights above others.
Manipulates others: One of the narcissistic traits The most common is the manipulation that these people exert on others. Narcissists exploit and manipulate their environment to achieve their goals. The narcissist does not hesitate to use the people around him, assuming that they are also willing to help his well-being.
Without empathy: A narcissistic egomaniac does not usually have empathy and does not usually think about the emotions of his family, friends or colleagues nor does he try to satisfy the needs of others in any way. For the narcissistic person, other people do not exist.
Show your envy: A narcissistic person He usually shows envy for the successes of others and, sometimes, he also feels himself the center of envy from those around him and considers that any negative criticism may be motivated by this.
Related to the previous one, on a daily basis the narcissist usually shows himself with arrogance against any opinion, behavior or attitude and does not have the capacity for self-criticism. Likewise, all people who suffer from this disorder do not show all the traits that characterize them, although most of them do. What differentiates the levels of narcissism is the intensity with which they manifest them.
What is the meaning of narcissist? The myth of Narcissus
The influence of Greek and Roman mythology on psychology is notable in many aspects. From the names of many phobias to the allusion to certain disorders, it is interesting to delve into it to discover some curiosities. In the case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder the references are clear.
The meaning of narcissist or narcissism alludes to the myth of Narcissus Narcissus, according to legend, was a beautiful young man who made all men and women fall in love with his beauty, whom he continually rejected. The goddess of revenge Nemesis, upon seeing this excessive vanity, became angry and decided to apply the punishment of falling in love with her own image reflected in a fountain. Such was this obsession, that Narciso spent hours and hours seeing her image reflected back to him until he ended up submerging himself in the water to try to reach her. He drowned in it and where her body appeared, the flower that also bears her name was born.
Thus, several conclusions can be drawn from reading the myth: narcissistic people they let themselves be guided by their ego and high regard for oneself, an extreme self-confidence that can lead to loneliness. Being a narcissist has many negative connotations in our society.
“The narcissist becomes his own world and in turn believes that the whole world is him”
Theodore I. Rubin.
Causes of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Narcissism has different origins. So much so that to know how to treat a narcissist it is necessary to determine what the cause of the narcissistic personality disorder is. Among the most common reasons, psychologists highlight the following:
Inferiority complex: According to numerous researchers, the narcissist causes They can be found in childhood and are related to the inferiority complex. In this sense, they explain that a parenting pattern in which an overvalued image of themselves is promoted, with unrealizable goals and high expectations in the form of self-fulfilling prophecies and in which frustration tolerance is not developed, it can lead to a narcissistic disorder in adulthood.
Excessive idealization: On the other hand, the doctor and psychotherapist Alexander Lowen suggests that the narcissist gets trapped in his image In this way, the person who suffers from the narcissus complex fully identifies with the idealized image of himself, which means that the true self, the essence, is blurred so he can only rely on the first one. That is, narcissistic people avoid reality to create their own fantasy of themselves. Lowen states that one of the essential characteristics of this disorder is the denial of feelings specifically those who conflict with the image they have created for themselves and others.
Genetics: Some studies claim that the narcissism It may have a biological or genetic origin. In this sense, a study by La Charité University Hospital and the Free University of Berlin published in the journal Journal of Psychiatric Research revealed that there is a relationship in pathological narcissism with the reduction of gray matter in the brain responsible for compassion In the study, the researchers measured the thickness of the cerebral cortex and found that narcissistic patients reflected abnormalities in that region, concluding that the degree of empathy is related to the volume of gray matter in that area of the brain.
narcissism It is a basic concept in psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud was one of the first researchers who delved into his theory in the 1914 essay Introduction of narcissism. In it he distinguished primary narcissism, related to the satisfaction of primary needs in children without relationship with the outside world, and secondary narcissism, which is related to both a pathology and a structural state of the “ego.”
Therefore, we can say that Freud He divided it into two categories:
Adaptive or healthy narcissism: The narcissistic person has a self-esteem that generates enough confidence to function effectively in various psychosocial areas. In these cases, the meaning of narcissist has a positive connotation for personality development.
Pathological narcissism: The subject distorts external events, unconsciously blaming others for his own failures, not recognizing his mistakes and emitting an arrogant and self-sufficient attitude. According to this author, the narcissist unconsciously destroys the image that others show him, looking for reasons to validate his behavior and delegate the blame to others. These explanations would be accepted and believed by the subject, unlike excuses, whose level of consciousness is above the capacity of untreated Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
It is important to mention that the differential diagnosis between Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Antisocial Disorder It can be complicated, since one of the signs that unites them is a decreased capacity for empathy. While in dissocial behavior behaviors such as: substance abuse, sexual promiscuity, aggressive behaviors, conscious manipulation of the people who make up their environment usually appear… in Narcissistic Disorder, excessively disruptive behaviors are not common. On the other hand, manipulation, if it exists, is unconscious since the subject distorts reality.
The first meaning accepted by the scientific community related to the signs and symptoms that make up narcissism was megalomania, a concept that referred to delusional fantasies of power and omnipotence, or an exaggerated sense of self-worth. Later, the Austrian psychoanalyst Heinz Kohut coined the term “narcissistic personality” to refer to a subtype of people with a highly idealized self-image, having as a common trait the denial of any reality that could harm or devalue their worth, deforming objectivity to adapt it to the self-concept and self-esteem (subjectivity).
What is the narcissistic pervert?
One of the most extreme pathologies of narcissism is known as narcissistic pervert, in which the symptoms go beyond egocentrism and lack of empathy to transform into total emotional manipulation, aggression and violence. In 1950, the French psychoanalyst
