From Self Love to Idealistic Self – Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Here in this post, we are providing insight about “From Self Love to Idealistic Self – Narcissistic Personality Disorder”. You can read Overview, Differences, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, and Risk Factor. You can discuss more your problems in our community, and we will provide you with a short time. Keep visiting Mental Health.
Overview
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a disorder in which a person has a higher level of feeling of self-love and strong desire for admiration and attention, trouble with relationships,s, and lack of empathy with others.
Narcissism means Self-obsessed but in psychology, it is not related to self-love.
People with Narcissism are in love with their self-image of idealism and Grandiosity. Their self-image helps them to avoid insecure feelings. Narcissist Person became unhappy and sad when they don’t get the attention what they expected.
It causes a problem in many important areas of life such as
- Work
- Relationship
- School
NPD can be misdiagnosed with the following disorders.
- Other personality disorders and personality traits.
- Mania or hypomania.
- Substance use disorders
Symptoms According to DSM-5
Five or more following must be present for diagnostic purposes.
- They have arrogant behavior and attitude towards others.
They have a lack of empathy towards others.
They believed that others are jealous of them and also have feelings of Jealousy for others.
They take advantage of others for the achievement of their desire goals.
They believed that they are special and different and should be associated with higher-ranked people.
They wished to have excessive admiration.
They distracted by their unrealistic desires, immense power and success, idealistic love, and beauty.
They have to exaggerate the sense of self-image, achievement, and talents. They expected to known superior without their corresponding success.
They have unrealistic desires of being specially treated and wanted to fulfill their desires automatically.
Causes
The causes of Narcissistic personality disorder are unknown. However following factors contributed to the development of Narcissistic personality disorder.
- Genetical factor
- Environmental factor
Genetical Factors
Genetic defects may also responsible for causing Narcissism.
Environmental Factors
There are the following factors which may include:
- Culture
- Childhood experiences (abuse, neglect)
- Parenting patterns (overprotect)
- Expectation from parents (unrealistic)
Risk factors
A narcissistic personality disorder is more common in men than women. Onset starts from teen or early childhood. Some children have symptoms of narcissism at a certain age. It does mean they will go on to develop a narcissistic personality disorder.
Complications
There are the following complications that can occur in Narcissistic personality disorder
- Substance abuse
- Suicidal Ideation
- Alcohol & Drug abuse
- Anxiety and Depression
- Serious Health issues
- Relationship Problems
- Difficulties in work or School
Treatment
A narcissist personality disorder is treated in the following ways.
- Medication
- Psychotherapy
- Lifestyle changes
- Cognitive behavioral therapy
- Schema therapy
- Gestalt therapy
- Mentalization based therapy
Medication
There are no medicines available for the treatment of Narcissist personality disorder. If symptoms may occur with other mental disorders such as depression suitable medicine must be used to treat other disorders.
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy help NPD person learn to behave better with others, improve their relationships and enjoy their life. Positive interaction developed between people and improve important areas of their lives.
Psychotherapy helps a narcissistic person to learn how to:
- Improve their relationship with others
- Control and understand your feelings and emotions.
- Improve your interaction with friends and coworkers.
- Deal with self-esteem issues.
- Set realistic goals and wishes.
- Identify your weaknesses and strength so that one can bear criticism and accept their failures.
Stick to your treatment plan
It is difficult to change one personality traits and take a very long duration of therapy before one can see an improvement. During this period, one can start to see therapy as useless and wanted to quit.
It is important to continue therapy. Be confident and motivated towards therapy. Attend all therapy sessions. With the passage of time, everything will be sorted out and you will spend a healthy and happy life.
Lifestyles Changes
Following lifestyle changes should be adopted for better results of therapy.
- Substance such as alcohol and drugs should be avoided that causes negative behavior.
- Start exercise daily to boost mind and mood.
- Relaxation techniques such as meditation and yoga should start to avoid stress and anxiety.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT helps to identify abnormal behavior and thinking of NPD person and replaced them with normal behavior. Therapists help to learn the new skills and give them homework assignments to use that skills into action during sessions.
Following techniques can be used:
- Schedule positive activities.
- Situation exposure
- Guided discovery and question.
- Cognitive restructuring
- Journaling
Schema therapy
Schema therapy is used with the combination of psychotherapy and CBT. The focus of schema therapy is to recognize unhealthy patterns and to deal with methods that establish from early childhood. When unhealthy schemas are identified, you can learn to change them. You will find new methods to meet your needs and change your attitude towards others.
Gestalt therapy
Gestalt therapy focuses on the present. Past experiences are evaluated in reference to how past experiences can affect your today. The therapist taught their client to improve their self-responsibility and self-awareness. You will be supported to think about what is happening in your life.
Mentalization-based therapy (MBT)
MBT is used to develop the ability to think about yourself and also the emotion and feelings of others. So that you will able to connect your emotions with behavior patterns. You will work on thoughts so that you will react after thinking and able to explore intentions behinds others’ behaviors.