Narcissistic Disorder:Effects and Treatments
Sean T. Lee
Cheyney University
Introduction
This paper is an attempt to shed some light on Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Many people who have this disorder are not usually aware that they have it. People who have a narcissistic personality can have many problems arise in their relationships, on their jobs, and at school. Narcissistic personality disorder is a rare case here in the US, with less than 200,000 reported cases a year. It might be because it isn’t reported enough and most the people who do have it are not going to just come out and say that they do. A person who is a narcissist usually exhibits a fixation with power, vanity, prestige, and personal importance. They are mentally unable to see the damage they are causing to themselves and the people around them. More awareness should be spread about this disorder so that it will become more identifiable in people and better treatment can be discovered. Spreading awareness will also help those who have NPD with getting help for it.
Narcissistic Disorder:
Etiology
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a psychological disorder where the person has a grandiose sense of their own importance, clamors for admiration from others, and cannot empathize with others.
The actual cause narcissism is not known, and it can stem from many different causations. Mayoclinic (2014) has found that some links could possibly be mismatches in parent-child relationships with either
Narcissism is defined as the love of ones self. Sigmund Freud was the first to use the word to characterize certain character traits. He got the word from the Greek mythological legend Narcissus who saw his reflection in water and fell in love with himself. Freud suggests that all of us have a bit of self love, but when self love goes extreme it can be a problem and is considered a pathological problem. Nora from “The Doll House,” only exuded narcissistic behavior because she was treated like a doll. She was spoiled and only thought that that was how she was supposed to behave in order to get what she wanted or to please the men in her
Although someone diagnosed with NPD may seem to have this overconfidence, those individuals have low self-esteems and negative criticism are not their cup of tea. What society tends to call those with NPD are cocky, arrogant, conceited, or “big-headed.” NPD individuals look down on others and try to belittle others. Individuals with NPD tend to take over in the presence of conversations, they have a sense of entitlement, and if those with NPD does not get their way or special treatment, they will become angry. Further researched proved that narcissism have a
Phallic narcissism: When an individual is elitist, a social climber, admiration seeking, self-promoting, bragging and empowered by
When one is stressed, one’s hormonal level in cortisol will increase rapidly. Excessive amounts of cortisol in your body could lead to high blood pressure, hypertension and even heart attack. This is one main reason why patients with this narcissistic mental disorder die faster than normal people. In addition, their narcissistic behaviors may turn off many others, causing them to have no friends at all. This could lead to depression if the individual is unable to find any one to show off. This is also another reason why shorter life expectancy occurs in people with this disorder. This could ultimately lead to drug or alcohol abuse, which could further shorten one’s
Just as children go through their egocentric phase, those that have NPD according the article “Narcissism and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Perspective” by Zuckerman & O 'Loughlin, (2009) states how they become “locked into that stage and never grows out of it”. When a child is allowed to feel overly important, that child will more than likely maintain their infantile mentality of “power [and] control”, thus “hindering Narcissistic characteristics. These children learn to scan and seek out those who can fulfill their narcissistic supply” that demands attention, recognition, and fulfillment.
Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
Narcissism is an extreme interest in oneself with an extreme craving for admiration and a grandiose view of one’s own talents. Pride and lack of empathy are high as well. Some aspects that go along
Individuals with narcissistic personality disorder display an exaggerated sense of self-importance, a preoccupation with being admired, and a lack of empathy for the feelings of others (Pincus & Lukowitsky,2010; Ronningstam,2005,2009). Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality
A narcissistic personality disorder is basically a person who feels that they have self-importance. The person thinks that they should have control and power above anything. The person is unable to mentally realize how much damage they are doing to others and themselves.
Narcissists are observed to be having high self esteem though narcissism is not the same thing as self-esteem, this is seen in the attitude behind the self-esteem. Normal people with high self-esteem are seen
Hour after hour, Narcissus pined away, until finally he changed into a flower that now bears his name, narcissus (Klatt-Brazouski, 1994). According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V), Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a Cluster B personality disorder in which persons have an excessive sense of self-importance and a lack of empathy for others, amongst many other behavioral symptoms. Most commonly, these individuals experience symptoms of antagonism. One of the two aspects of antagonism is grandiosity, in which the individual has excessive feelings of entitlement and feeling that they are superior to others around them.
The personality of a person is what ultimately defines who they are. This is what 99% of us look for in a person actually knowing who they really are. A person may be fun, loving, caring, and charismatic and a million other traits, but there is none like being narcissistic. A narcissistic person is one who truly believes that the world revolves around them and them only. This is someone who has an excessive or erotic interest in themselves, he/she craves constant admiration and never want to recognize differences with external objects. This type of obsessive behavior is characterized as Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). This is definitely something that can have an adverse effect on children and their mental health. Parents suffering from narcissistic personality disorder are not very capable of raising and providing a quality, solid foundation for their children while maintaining and ensuring the preservation of their child’s mentality.
The construct of narcissism finds its origins in ancient Greece and Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with the proud and vain figure of Narcissus, cursed by the goddess, Nemesis, to fall in love with his own reflection. However, conceptualizations of pathological narcissism did not became a part of psychological theory until the late nineteenth century with Freud’s eminent essay: On Narcissism (Ronningstam, 2005). As Freud theorized on narcissism and, ironically, experimented with cocaine, the formal diagnosis of addiction was precipitously incorporated into the medical literature in response to increasing uncontrolled narcotic use and growing public health concern (Markel, 2012). Perhaps predictably, theorizing on the possible association between narcissism and addiction, particularly in the psychoanalytic tradition, has been addressed by theorists since. The term narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) was first introduced by Heinz Kohut in 1968, and saw inclusion in formal diagnostic literature in 1980 as a part of the significant revisions to personality disorders in the third edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM; American Psychiatric Association, 1980).
He is the person most insensitive to his true needs. The narcissist will have a pattern of (grandiosity), the need for admiration, and lack empathy, that will be present in early adulthood.
The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual describes personality disorders as being a pattern of enduring behavior and internal experiences that tends to digress a significant amount from the individual’s cultural and societal standards (Sadock, Kaplan & Sadock, 2015). This personality disorder is diagnosed in the presence of grandiosity and the need to be admired and appreciated. There is a chronic lack of empathy as well as inflated self-esteem and the belief that one is entitled to the adoration of others. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is classified under Cluster B, showcasing more erratic and emotional behavior which can be seen in the film American Psycho.