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At times, a 22-year-old from Los Angeles feels he is “the most exceptional individual alive”. Living with narcissistic personality disorder, his grandiose moments frequently escalate into “really delusional”, he admits. You’re riding high and you tell yourself, ‘The world will recognize that I’m better than them … I’ll do great things for the world’.”

In his case, these episodes of self-aggrandisement are often succeeded by a “sudden low”, during which he feels overwhelmed and ashamed about his conduct, making him particularly vulnerable to criticism from others. He first suspected he might have NPD after looking up his traits online – and subsequently evaluated by a clinician. However, he doubts he would have taken the label without having independently formed that understanding on his own. When someone suggests to somebody that they have this disorder, {they’ll probably deny it|denial is a common response|they’re likely to reject it,” he comments – especially if they experience feelings of superiority. “They’re in a delusional world that they’ve constructed. And that world is like, I am superior and {nobody can question me|no one should doubt me|my authority is absolute.”

Clarifying The Condition

While people have been labelled as narcissists for more than a century, the meaning can be ambiguous what people refer to as the label. It’s common to label everybody a narcissist,” states a psychology professor, noting the word is “overused” – but when it comes to a clinical identification, he believes many people keep it private, as there is so much stigma associated with the illness. A narcissist will tend to have “a heightened sense of self”, “impaired compassion”, and “a tendency to exploit relationships to enhance their social status through actions such as pursuing power,” the professor explains. Those with NPD may be “deeply egotistical”, to the point that {“they’re not able to hold down stable relationships|“their jobs are damaged|“they have a distorted view of reality,” he emphasizes.

I’ve never cared about anyone really, so relationships weren’t a priority relationships seriously

Variations by Gender in NPD Presentation

Although up to 75% of people found to have NPD are males, findings indicates this number does not mean there are less female narcissism, but that female narcissism is more often presented in the vulnerable narcissism type, which is less commonly diagnosed. “Men’s narcissism tends to be somewhat tolerated, as with everything in society,” says an individual who shares content on her co-occurring conditions on online channels. Frequently, the two disorders co-occur.

Individual Challenges

It’s hard for me with dealing with feedback and rejection,” she says, “because if I hear that I am at fault, I often enter defence mode or I become unresponsive.” Despite having this behavior – which is sometimes referred to as “narcissistic injury”, she has been trying to overcome it and accept input from her support system, as she aims to avoid falling into the negative conduct of her past. I used to be manipulative to my partners during adolescence,” she admits. With professional help, she has been able to manage her condition better, and she says she and her significant other “maintain an agreement where we’ve agreed, ‘Should I make a harmful comment, if I say something manipulative, call it out {right then and there|immediately|in the moment’.”

Her upbringing mainly in the care of her father and explains there was an absence of supportive figures as a child. It’s been a process of understanding all this time which behaviors are suitable or harmful to say during a fight because I lacked that guidance growing up,” she comments. There were no boundaries when my relatives were belittling me when I was growing up.”

Origins of NPD

These mental health issues tend to be connected with difficulties as a child. Heredity is a factor,” explains an expert in personality disorders. But, when someone shows signs of narcissism, it is often “connected with that individual’s particular early environment”. Those traits were “a coping mechanism in some ways to manage during childhood”, he adds, when they may have been neglected, or only shown love that was dependent on meeting particular demands. They then “rely on those familiar tactics as adults”.

In common with many of the NPD-diagnosed people, a person from Leeds thinks his parents “could also have the disorder. The adult shares when he was a child, “everything was all about them and their work and their social life. So it was like, keep your distance.” When their attention turned to him, it came in the form of “significant demands to achieve academic success and career success, he notes, which made him feel that if he didn’t fulfill their expectations, he wasn’t “worthy.

When he became an adult, none of his relationships lasted. “I’ve never cared about anyone really,” he states. Therefore, I never treated relationships seriously.” He felt incapable of loving someone, until he met his long-term relationship of three years, who is also dealing with a personality disorder, so, like him, has difficulty with feelings. She is “very supportive of the internal struggles in my head”, he notes – it was actually she who initially thought he might have NPD.

Pursuing Treatment

Subsequent to a consultation to his general practitioner, he was directed to a clinical psychologist for an assessment and was told his diagnosis. He has been put forward for psychological counseling on the public health system (a long period of therapy is the main intervention that has been shown to help NPD patients, specialists note), but has been on the treatment delay for a year and a half: It was indicated it is likely to occur early next year.”

John has only told a few individuals about his mental health status, because “prejudice is common that all narcissists are abusers”, but, in his own mind, he has embraced the diagnosis. “It helps me to understand myself better, which is positive,” he says. Each individual have acknowledged their condition and are looking for support for it – hence being willing to talk about it – which is likely not typical of all people with the disorder. But the growth of individuals sharing their stories and the development of online support communities point to {more narcissists|a growing number