Narcissistic Personality Disorder Definition and Facts
A person diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder refers to an individual that possesses character traits and exhibits behaviors that display an obvious love and infatuation of themselves. A narcissist is concerned only with his or her self and have complete disregard for the existence of other individuals when it pertains to other people’s own value of self. However, to fill their own needs, a narcissist does require interaction with people as they rely on others to continually provide them with an audience in which they can show their own worth. The term “narcissist” refers to the Greek mythology figure Narcissus who was in love with his own reflection.
The narcissistic personality disorder has had very little research completed on it, with the disorder only appearing in the Diagnostic and Statistics Manual since 1980. However, there are some facts from the research that has so far been obtained. Most narcissists are men, who make up seventy-five percent of known cases of the disorder. Of the total population only approximately one percent has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. Narcissism begins to develop from infancy through to early adolescence. It is often a result of child abuse or trauma that has been inflicted from the individual’s peers, or authority figures.
Narcissistic personality disorder is part of a group of other disorders which include borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and histrionic personality disorder. When an individual is diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, it is generally a dual diagnosis in that another disorder, such as substance abuse, is also diagnosed.
A narcissistic individual is categorized into one of two types. The first group is referred to as Cerebral. This type of narcissist will fulfill their egotism and inflated sense of self from their academic achievements and from the high level of intelligence that they possess. The second group is referred to as Somatic and this type of narcissist will follow the narcissistic pattern through their own strength and physical attributes.
Although narcissistic personality disorder is easier to treat the younger the patient is, adult treatment is possible. This usually involves the individual visiting a psychologist or psychiatrist to talk about the problem with a professional. In some cases, prescription medication may be prescribed that will help to treat the side effects and symptoms of the disorder. These medications are generally mood stabilizers or medication to help with obsessive compulsive disorder, another side effect of narcissistic personality disorder.