You may have seen some people in your life who are arrogant or got their exaggerated sense of self-importance. Empathy can’t be expected from such people as they are considered to be heartless. Even if they cause damage to others, they will not take responsibility if anybody tries to blame them. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is all about such kind of people existing in your society. It affects both men and women with psychological, emotional and behavioural symptoms so let’s figure out more about this ruthless personality disorder.

  • How to Identify a Person with Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

People suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder are known as “narcissists”, and if they are showing snobbish or disdainful attitude, then you can recognize them very quickly along with the below-mentioned signs and symptoms:

  • Emotional Signs and Symptoms:
  • He/she may show extreme sensitive behaviour towards criticism
  • He/she may expect constant flattery and attention from others
  • He/she may have a short temperament
  • He/she may experience feelings of shame, insecurity and envy
  • Psychological Signs and Symptoms:
  • He/she may prefer competition over cooperation
  • He/she may feel extreme feelings of self-importance
  • He/she may show a cynical attitude towards those people who got idealistic beliefs
  • He/she may firmly believe that their own beliefs and interests are more important than other people
  • Behavioural Signs and Symptoms:
  • He/she may boast about their accomplishments
  • He/she may demean other people to feel better
  • He/she may dominate conversations so that others can’t share their perspective
  • He or she may criticise those people who will not flatter their narcissistic personality
  • Causes of Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

To some extent, environment and genetics can be held responsible for leading an individual towards this personality disorder. Some people have inherited characteristics of narcissism, and that’s why their behaviour and thinking are affected. Whereas if we talk about the environment then mismatches in the parent-child relationship can be seen at times and this happens when too much adoration or too much criticism is provided to the child who later poorly attunes to child’s upcoming life experiences.

  • Therapies for Narcissistic Personality Disorder:

Various types of therapies are recommended by psychologists for the proper treatment of NPD. Such kind of therapies helps the sufferer to get rid of irrational thoughts which trigger narcissistic responses. Some of the well-known therapies may include:

  • Family Therapy- Narcissistic behaviour affects both the sufferers and their family members. Hence, it is essential that during the healing and recovery process, family therapy should take place where all the family members including the sufferer sit together and put a full stop to grandiose and distorted thoughts giving rise to narcissistic behaviour.
  • Psycho-dynamic Therapy- Usually this therapy works well when the psychologist is helping out a narcissist to figure out his/her past experiences as well as the unconscious assumptions which they might have related to their behaviours and attitudes.
  • Final Thoughts:

Even though a narcissist may appear to be a negative character in your life but still if he or she can be guided to take part in positive activities such as setting realistic goals for themselves, avoiding drugs and alcohol, coping up with self-esteem issues as well as practising yoga and meditation then for sure such a negative character can change into a positive one with a better and healthy lifestyle.