Narcissistic personality disorder (patient information)

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Editor-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S.,M.D. [1] Phone:617-632-7753; Associate Editor-In-Chief: Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan, M.B.B.S.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves.

A person with narcissistic personality disorder may:

• React to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation
• Take advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals
• Have excessive feelings of self-importance
• Exaggerate achievements and talents
• Be preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love
• Have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
• Need constant attention and admiration
• Disregard the feelings of others, and have little ability to feel empathy
• Have obsessive self-interest
• Pursue mainly selfish goals

• The causes of this disorder are unknown.
• An overly sensitive personality and parenting problems may affect the development of this disorder.

Like other personality disorders, narcissistic personality disorder is diagnosed based on a psychological evaluation and the history and severity of the symptoms.

Psychotherapy (for example, talk therapy) may help the affected person relate to other people in a more positive and compassionate way.

Directions to Hospitals Treating Condition

The outcome depends on the severity of the disorder.

• Alcohol or other drug dependence
• Relationship, work, and family problems

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000934.htm

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