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 of high profile narcissistic.

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 Narcissistic Personality Disorder with personalities from the world of entertainment: artists, actors, singers, intellectuals... They are those characters who, as they say colloquially, "fame has gone to their heads."

Of course, narcissism is not directly linked to socioeconomic position wealthy of a person, but with the self-perception of the individual (that is, the perception of his worth, regardless of his social or economic position). The true essence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder lies there: the narcissistic person is absolutely convinced that oneself is superior to the rest of the people. The narcissist systematically compares himself to the people around him, and does not see anyone above him, but he does place many (or even all) below.

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

What is a narcissistic person like?

People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder often present themselves as individuals with a iron self-esteem. This high self-confidence does not make them better people, since in the field of interpersonal relationships, they have important shortcomings.

The narcissist always needs to consider himself on a higher plane than other people, well because he does not supports some trait of these relatives, or because he has separated from his old they. Because of this affective disengagement from others, people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder lack a genuine interest in others, which we can summarize by their low empathy. They are not very concerned about what may happen to people around them, but focus all their attention on themselves.

They only approve of third parties when they revolve around their orbit, when they positively reinforce them with flattery and thus ratify their self-perception and 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 from some degree of Narcissistic Personality Disorder export their way of being self-sufficient and the 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.

Narcissistic people often feel uncomfortable when they have to travel by car. public transport or when they have to enter a hospital, because they will tend to think that they deserve a better deal 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 from high standingBecause they believe they are worthy of these badges: their status and image of success is very important to a narcissist.

The narcissist's speech 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 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 cinema and we can 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 his self-centered behavior that we have already commented, they are also characterized by being very spiteful people, and they tend to maintain attitudes of resentment and revenge towards others. They tend to enjoy making other people feel bad, thus increasing their ego and their feeling of superiority. They are competitive and if they think someone can overshadow them, they will try to undermine that person's prestige and reputation.

Resume

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

Diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder

According to the classification elaborated and published in the DSM-V-TR, Narcissistic Personality Disorder has the following signs that may be helpful to mental health professionals in establishing a diagnosis:

• They feel an inordinate sense of grandeur.
• They are permanently preoccupied with fantasies of power, success, beauty, or love.
• They are people who think they are special and who 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 ends (Machiavellianism).
• Lack of empathy, that is, they are unable to identify or recognize the feelings and emotions of other people.
• They are envious of others, or believe that others are envious.
• They tend to be arrogant.

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 disturbance. At the end of the day, each person is different and we cannot capture all the nuances of someone's personality from 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.