Differences between egocentricity and narcissistic personality disorder

We are the protagonists of our own life and, therefore, it is a very common tendency to believe that the world revolves around us. In biology, selfishness is an extremely common evolutionary event, as living things seek their well-being in order to reproduce as much as possible, regardless of the integrity of their like-minded people. In nature, practically every act has an individual focus, since one's own permanence in time to leave more offspring is the only reason to live.

According to the theory of psychological egocentricity, human beings do not get rid of this evolutionary trend. This postulation proposes that all behavior is motivated by self-interested rewards, thus denying the existence of altruistic behaviors in our species. We instinctively seek the pleasant, and doing good earns us positive rewards from the people around us.

Based on this individualistic behavior at the evolutionary level, it is very normal to find characteristics in the population such as selfishness, self-centeredness and narcissism. However, not all these psychological traits are the same, nor are they experienced in the same way. Today we introduce you

the differences between self-centeredness and narcissistic personality disorder.

• Related article: "The 5 great personality traits: sociability, responsibility, openness, kindness and neuroticism"

How to differentiate between egocentricity and narcissistic personality disorder

Narcissism and self-centeredness are two ideas that are closely related, but are used in slightly different settings. Let's see below how these concepts differ, in summary.

1. Different scales: disorder versus characteristic

Being egocentric is a characteristic of a person's personality, while narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a clinical entity that requires treatment, encompassed in the dimensional model of personality disorders. They are not on the same scale: one thing is a negative trait, while the other incurs the pathological picture.

It is estimated that, in the United States, 1 to 15% of the population suffers from a narcissistic personality disorder, with a higher prevalence in men than in women. In addition, since it is a clinical picture, it is not uncommon for it to be accompanied by other physical and / or emotional pathologies, such as anorexia nervosa, dependence on harmful substances (especially cocaine), other personality disorders and depression.

2. Narcissism and self-centeredness: one understands the other

Although narcissism could also come to be conceived as a trait (on the same level as egocentricity), it is almost always used in the psychiatric setting to describe the pathological disorder.

A person with NPD is self-centered, since the patient has an inordinate perception of their own being, a deep need for attention, delusions of grandeur and other events related to high individual esteem, always dependent on the approval of others.

On the other hand, a self-centered person believes that his own opinions or interests are more important than those of others, but this does not have to be accompanied by the rest of the pathological features that characterize the personality disorder narcissistic. In short, a person with NPD is self-centered by definition, but not all self-centered people suffer from NPD.

3. Self-centeredness is not a disorder

Despite sounding repetitive, it is necessary to emphasize this idea. The concept of "narcissist" may be put to a lower level to describe certain mild traits, but egocentricity cannot be labeled as a disorder in any case. Therefore, it is not quantifiable by clinical measures, as is the case with NPD.

• You may be interested in: "Narcissistic Personality Disorder: causes and symptoms"

4. Narcissism is quantifiable

As it is a clinical entity, narcissistic personality disorder must be able to be diagnosed based on certain parameters. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders shows us the parameters that a patient must meet in order to be considered as such.:

• The patient has a self-perceived sense of greatness.
• You continually preoccupy yourself with fantasies of success, power, brilliance, beauty, or perfect love affairs.
• He believes that he is special and that he can only be understood by other people at his level.
• It requires continuous and excessive admiration.
• He believes that he has more rights over others because he is himself, in a completely irrational way.
• He is manipulative and takes advantage of his environment to obtain his own goods, regardless of the harm of others.
• They do not have empathy or show interest in understanding other people.
• Shows arrogant and / or combative behaviors.
• He is envious or thinks that other people are envious of him.

For a person to be diagnosed with a narcissistic personality disorder, they must meet 5 or more of these parameters from the perspective of the health professional who cares for the person. As you can see, this clinical entity follows a standardized pattern.

5. Narcissistic personality disorder requires treatment

Being self-centered is an undesirable trait that the person may want to change to improve her social skills, but it does not require medical treatment per se. If this feature is part of a larger psychological disorder (such as NPD), then therapeutic attention is required.

NPD is usually treated with psychodynamic therapy, that is, trying to address the underlying elements (abuse during childhood, excessive parental praise, etc.), while cognitive behavioral therapy may be helpful in modulating certain behaviors of the child. patient. Although there is no specific medication for this disorder, accessory problems (depression, anxiety, suicidal tendencies and others) can be addressed pharmacologically.

Resume

As you have seen, we are facing two similar terms, but in no case comparable. A narcissistic person is inherently self-centered, but not all people with traces of self-centeredness suffer from a narcissistic personality disorder.

In addition to this distinction, it is necessary to be clear that in the case of narcissistic personality disorder (NDD) we are facing a pathology, a psychological disorder that must be tackled beyond morality and opinion individual. People with TDN require psychotherapeutic care and, in some cases, drug treatments for associated events. For all these reasons (and for the well-being of the patient), a disorder should never be confused with a trait.

Bibliographic references:

• Cooper, A. M., & Ronningstam, E. (1992). Narcissistic personality disorder. American psychiatric press review of psychiatry.
• Pincus, A. L., & Lukowitsky, M. R. (2010). Pathological narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder. Annual review of clinical psychology, 6, 421-446.
• Salman Akthar, M. D., & Thomson Jr, J. TO. (1982). Overview: Narcissistic personality disorder. Am J Psychiatry, 139 (1).
• Narcissistic Personality Disorder, MSDmanuals. Picked up on March 27 in https://www.msdmanuals.com/es-es/professional/trastornos-psiqui%C3%A1tricos/trastornos-de-la-personalidad/trastorno-de-la-personalidad-narcisista
• Weiss, B., & Miller, J. D. (2018). Distinguishing between grandiose narcissism, vulnerable narcissism, and narcissistic personality disorder. In Handbook of trait narcissism (pp. 3-13). Springer, Cham.