Narcissistic personality disorder: characteristics and clinical presentation

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

This is one of the very rare kinds of personality disorders that can be traced within the contemporary society. Indeed Philip W. Long (2011) pegs the prevalence to 1% of the total population. He further notes that the disorder is more prevalent in males than in females.

People falling under this category generally have a weird feeling that the world generally revolves around them and their needs. These categories of people lack the urge to empathize with other people and always strive to keep the focus toward them all the time.

This personality can make the person display unusual arrogance, lack of empathy as well as absolute need fro admiration that can be seen in the way they carry out their duties at work and generally how they would like to be perceived in a relationship.

More often these people are described by others as self-centered, cocky, demanding and manipulative. More often than not, they will preoccupy themselves with feats that are not achievable like fame and at times feel they are worth being treated as famous people even if that is not the case. It is a case that is closely related to antisocial personality, borderline personality disorder as well as histrionic personality disorder (Psychology Today, 2012).

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 to be humble even among people whom they are above, yet the narcissists are not humble at all, not even among those who are senior than them. Initially, there was a misconception that narcissists are people with high self-esteem on the surface and deep within a desperate sense of insecurity. However, this was ruled out by the latest evidence that points out that the narcissists are secure and are grandiose at both levels. One may be tempted to attribute insecurity to the defensive nature of the narcissists when heir self-esteem is threatened yet that is not the case. Among these people, the dangerous lifestyle like risky sex and financial decisions that are bold though may be beyond their reach can indicate sensation-seeking from the public or impulsivity.

Symptoms

There are various symptoms that are associated with people having the narcissistic personality disorder. These may include all or some of the following (MNT, 2004);

This category of people will react to criticism with a lot of anger and even be ready to fight, or may display extreme shame or even get humiliated extremely. These people will also be noted to be taking every little advantage of others in order to reach their own goals. Such people will also be noted to exaggerate their sense of significance or importance within the society. They will also be noted to overdo their abilities or exaggerate the little achievements that they have made as well as overemphasize on their talents.

People suffering from thin disorder will also be seen to be preoccupied by unrealistic fantasies concerning power, intelligence, success, romance and beauty. They also display expectations of unreasonable favorable considerations or treatment. These are people who need constant attention as well as positive reinforcement from people around them. They are noted to be easily getting jealous about others who seem better than them and they often disregard the feelings of other people around them in as much as they want their feelings to be considered and catered for. They have obsessive self-interprets that make them to constantly pursue selfish goals.

It has also been noted that narcissists are generally attractive and easy to notice and associate with at first sight. They are god at striking deals, making sales and even gaining popularity and favors with people. However, they are unable to maintain the relationship for the long run.

Diagnosis of the disorder

Personality disorders like the one in case here are always diagnosed by trained psychologists or even the psychiatrists and not by the family physicians and general practitioners as they are not well trained to handle the cases. It is also worth noting that there is no laboratory where such cases are neither diagnosed nor any genetic or blood tests carried out for personality disorder diagnosis. It has been noted that many people with personality disorders rarely seek attention and help in time. They often delay till they can no longer cope with the situation or until the resources to cope with the disorder are absolutely stretched (The Roadshow for Therapists, 2011).

Causes of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

It is important to note from the onset that there is no clearly identified cause of narcissistic disorder. There are however several theories that have been propagated to the cause of this disorder. There is an increasing number of professionals who buy into the explanation fronted by the biospychosocial model of causation. This approach indicates that this personality is mainly due to the biological and the genetic factors, as well as the social factors which include the way the person was brought up and the interactions that he had during the childhood stages, and also the psychological factors that the person is predisposed to like the personality of the individual, the temperament as modeled by environment and the coping methods that they were taught (Psych Central, 2012).

From above approach and explanation, apparently there is no single explanation that is responsible for the personality but it is a variation of factors that interplay to shape an individual to develop such personality. Amazingly, if an individual has this personality disorder, research indicates that they are likely to pass it down to their children.

Treatment

From the symptoms and the characteristics that someone with narcissistic personality disorder displays, the most relevant cure that has been observed to work is one that involves long-term psychotherapy that the patient is put through by an experience therapist in such types or related disorders. The therapy can come in the form of individual psychotherapy or group psychotherapy as deemed fit by the psychotherapist.

There are instances where medication and hospitalization may be prescribed especially fro those patients that are self-destructive and quite impulsive. These are the patients with severe narcissistic disorder and the hospitalization should be briefed at the treatment targeted at the particular symptom displayed by the patient since medical treatment of the disorder has been noted to be ineffective in correcting the personality disorder in general (MedicineNet, 2014).

Reflection