Pathological Narcissism

Strange as it may seem, narcissism could be of the negative kind, known as unhealthy narcissism (which is the commonly known kind), and then there is the kind which is known as healthy narcissism. The second type is hard to come across though. Most people affected by pathological narcissism cannot think or see beyond themselves. In very simple terms, narcissism is a concept where a person's personality is all about immense vanity, ego, and conceit. Some people claim that pathological narcissism is a form of excess healthy narcissism, but that is hardly true. Healthy narcissism is a reference to having the right balance of a love for oneself, along with the right amount of self-esteem, and yet having the ability to have an emotional connection with other people. However, in most cases, narcissistic behavior has negative effects only. Take a closer look at narcissism now, along with the symptoms of pathological narcissism in general.

Narcissism: A Tip of the Iceberg

Self obsession of a sort, narcissism is a condition where a person does everything for self gratification only. Studies and statistics say that close to 75% percent of the narcissists are men. More specifically referred to as Narcissist Personality Disorder (NPD), this disorder was originally discussed extensively by Freud. While slight traces of narcissism are prevalent in everybody, in cases of extreme narcissism, people consider nothing or no one but themselves as important. There are several traits and signs that help identify and set a narcissist apart from other people. Some of these traits are, sense of grandiose, feeling entitled to everything, constant envy, sense of delusions, inability to sympathize with the emotions and needs of others, obsession, amongst many others. It also isn't uncommon to see people like these act in an extremely arrogant or haughty fashion. As a habit, a narcissist also finds it very hard to develop close bonds with other people. There are several symptoms of pathological narcissism, apart from these. Take a look at what they are...

Pathological Narcissism: Symptoms

There are symptoms that help identify a pathological narcissist from a healthy narcissist. Here are the factors that set them apart...

✦ Constant focus on oneself is quite possibly the first, most important factor that sets people like such apart. Frequent use of the words I, Me, My is noticed in case of such people.

✦ Pathological narcissists should not be considered cases of psychosis since such people are completely aware of what they're doing, and can turn situations to their favor as and when they wish to.

✦ Exaggeration of talents is yet another common sign or symptom of such people. Working in accordance with that is also the fact that they love to delegate work to other people. In case of a failure, it is blamed on someone else, but in case of a success, they take complete credit for it.

✦ Such people cannot handle not being the center of attention at all times. Apart from being huge egoists, they cannot handle their share of the limelight being shed on someone else, and will find a way to turn every situation or even as much as a conversation to their favor.

✦ A narcissist needs constant focus on him, irrespective of the form. Be it in the form of admiration, detestation, fear, or any other emotion. It very simply must be all about him only.

✦ They also have an exaggerated sense of self, use other people to their advantage, get jealous easily, derive pleasure in making other people jealous of them, as well as act condescending towards others.

These are the most common traits and symptoms of a person suffering from pathological narcissism. People who qualify as narcissistic, are generally very hard to deal with, and must be handled with extreme patience, and in certain cases absolute diplomacy too. If that part of it is figured out, the rest will be really simple too.