Psychological Short Film| What is Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)

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We often hear people use the term "narcissism" to describe themselves or others.

In fact, pathological narcissism is not as simple as self-aggrandizement – it is a very serious psychological disorder.

And why some people are so obsessed with themselves, it is actually the deep internal causes that drive them.

Narcissism was recognized in ancient Greece. The story of daffodils is believed to be heard by everyone:

The handsome teenager Narcissus saw the reflection in the water and was impressed by his beauty, so he fell in love with his reflection and could not extricate himself, did not want to leave, and finally sat dead by the lake. After his death, he transformed into a daffodil and remained at the water's edge to watch over his shadow.

It wasn't until 1980 that the American Psychological Association (APA) acknowledged narcissism as a pathological disorder.

Today, an estimated 1 percent of the population suffers from Narcissistic personality disorder for short, NPD, and experts believe there are many people with this disorder who have not been diagnosed.

The problem with this is that this mental illness increases over time.

Narcissism is not just about the self

Narcissists have a positive side in some areas, but on the other hand, they can also make those around them feel dangerous, reckless, self-destructive, and uninteresting.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders describes NPD as follows:

The common psychological characteristics of NPD are pompousness, a desire for praise, a lack of empathy, a sense of privilege, arrogance, and jealousy.

Other notable phenotypic features include interpersonal estrangement and avoidance, insecurity, vulnerability, sensitivity, and a tendency to shame.

In psychiatry, numerous clinical case summary analyses have concluded that npdriad features are:

It's hard to have a real relationship with anyone, they have only themselves in their inner world, and they are somewhat paranoid about thinking that everything is good.

Unmarried people are convinced that they are the best in appearance, ability and thought, and married people firmly believe that their children are the smartest, wisest and most beautiful in the world.

And within the scope of their lives, everything that is related to them, whether it is their life, work supplies, or their spouse, etc., must obey his arrangement, otherwise they will immediately deny or abandon it.

Their greatest pain is not that they cannot have a relationship with others – because they do not have a place for others in them, but that they have difficulty facing "self-denial" when reality cannot satisfy their narcissism and control.

This is the biggest pain and blow for them, and one feeling is:

Once they are denied, it means the collapse of the ego world, and the fear and anxiety that comes with it make them helpless and even desperate.

It has something to do with parenting

Without setting aside neural data, psychologists use psychodynamics to explain, especially from the perspective of "blaming your parents." In fact, there seems to be some empirical basis to support this claim.

After comprehensively analyzing the early experiences of NPD patients, doctors found that at the age of 0-3, these people were not well cared for.

Some have been brought up by the nanny; some have been brought up by one of the parents, but the parent who is responsible for taking him in the memory has given him a lot of negative memories; some are sent directly to the grandmother or grandmother, but these people have not taken on the responsibility of "surrogate parents" well.

That is to say, everyone's 0-3 years old are spent in pain, lack of love, and longing for warmth.

Using the theories of psychopsychology to analyze:

The early experience of the individual, especially the experience of the 0-6 years of age, plays a crucial role in the growth and development of the individual in the later stages. In the 0-3 years old period, it is precisely an important stage to obtain a sense of security and attachment, especially from an important other - nurturer to obtain a sense of security and attachment, so that the individual can smoothly establish relationships with others.

Feeling "cute", "accepted", and "safe" in important relationships, if these are all positive, then the individual's relationship development will have a great possibility of being healthy, and if these are negative, then the individual's relationship development will most likely be unhealthy.

But in any case, any psychoanalytic explanation, without neuroscience theories, is not convincing enough.

In fact, the deep fear factor of the human brain is thought to be an important part of NPD pathology and may even be the trigger for narcissistic personality.

Neurologically, modern medicine points to the amygdala (the part of the brain responsible for recognizing and regulating emotions), and other areas such as:

The nucleus accumbens, hippocampus, and prefrontal region form a neural network involved in perceived threats, fearful learning, and fearful manifestations. All of these regional interactions create a complete fear response that prompts the onset of narcissistic personality disorder.

Treatment of NPD at this stage

Therefore, we can find that treatment from both psychological and neurological factors can effectively alleviate narcissistic personality disorder.

As we said earlier, when psychoanalysis exists alone, the pathological explanation is not convincing enough. The interaction and compensation between the two can achieve a better therapeutic effect.

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