Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Narcissistic disturbance can be found in everyone. An individual's existence would be in jeopardy if some narcissistic traits were not present. The development of problems occur when narcissistic traits become exaggerated in an individual's personality.

A pattern of grandiosity, excessive need for admiration, entitlement, and lack of empathy are the chief components in the diagnosis of NPD. These behaviors begin in early adulthood. A narcissistic individual is unable to trust, relies on others, and thus develops numerous, shallow relationships to extract tributes from others. Because a narcissistic individual has a shifting morality--always ready to shift values to gain favor--any relationship with a narcissist has difficulty. Their tendency is to form friendships or romantic relationships with only those that can enhance their self-esteem or advance their purposes.

A narcissistic individual has a basic sense of inferiority. Under this inferiority is a preoccupation with fantasies of outstanding achievement and an aimless orientation toward superficial interests. The narcissist uses others to aid them in any tasks they undertake and will frequently take credit for work which others have done. The narcissistic individual may be more successful at their chosen field of work than some of the other personality disorders because their narcissism is advantageous in their employment especially if their work provides narcissistic supply. However, usually they are never able to direct their interests long enough to completely develop any long-term projects and if these projects are completed they may not be of the highest quality.

Narcissists will over inflate their own accomplishments, are boastful, and pretentious. Although he or she may impress others with knowledge and decisiveness, a narcissistic person's information base is often limited to trivia.

Lying is an integal part of the narcissist's behavior and all their self-reports are unreliable. Their cognition is impaired to the extent that they frequently misinterpret other's speech and actions. They may actually believe that someone respects or loves them although this is a fantasy which exists only in the mind of the narcissist.

Their ideas are seldom original and they choose to quote whoever at that time they feel is an authority. The narcissist's quotations may not be accurate to what the chosen authority at the time meant. People other than the narcissist may wonder why the narcissist picked that individual as an authority because no true validation may exist that the person the narcissist picks is an authority.

They expect special treatment from others such as not waiting in line or being the center of attention and are mystified when they do no get what they want. They expect to get whatever they want no matter what it means to others.