Narcissistic Personality Disorder

954 Words2 Pages

We all love ourselves. That seems to be such a true statement that we do not bother to look it as a possible disorder. A person who loves himself is one thing but one who loves his reflection is another. A healthy person will love himself and his accomplishments. That person is all around happy and satisfied with himself. On the other hand one who is in love with his reflection is cause for narcissism. One who depends on the existence of a reflection to produce the emotion of self-love. It also makes it impossible for the person to tell himself what is reality or what is fantasy. The narcissist does possess the desire to love and to be loved. If he cannot love himself, he has love his reflection. Narcissist are five (or more) of the following:

has a grandiose sense of self-importance (example exaggerates achievements and talents, expects to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love

believes that he or she is "special" and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions)

requires excessive admiration

has a sense of entitlement, (example, unreasonable expectations of especially favorable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations)

is interpersonally exploitative, (example, takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends

lacks empathy: is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others

is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her

shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes

The most important characteristic of such a person is its lovability.

To a narcissist, love is interchangeable with other emotions, such as awe, respect, admiration, or even attention to him, a projected image, which antagonizes these reactions in others – is both "loveable and loved".

He prefers his image – with which he identifies to his True Self. The narcissist is not tuned exclusively to his needs. He ignores them because many of them conflict with his image. He does not put himself first he puts his self last. He caters to the needs and wishes of everyone around him because he craves their love and admiration. It is thro...

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...hat involves, is the only way to obtain love.

Between 0.7%-1% of the adult population suffer from the Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Pathological narcissism is under-reported because, by definition, few narcissists admit that anything is wrong with them and that they may be the source of the constant problem in their life and the lives of their nearest. Narcissists resort to therapy only in the time of a life crisis. They tend to blame the world, their boss, society, God, their spouse for their misfortune and failures.

In conclusion there really is no way for a person to fully recover narcissism. There is no way to gain the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. Sympathy is what separates narcissist people from a normal way of thinking and emotions cannot be changed after being conditioned into a person from childhood. When in therapy you will be able to gain a sense of self love and not reflection of love, your perspective may change somewhat but not in a sense of a healthy mind state. But since narcissim is under report and to hard to detect, many people will never receive treatment for their disorder.

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