Narcissistic Personality Disorder Research Paper

Have you ever met a person who is self-centered, arrogant, or extremely demanding? There is a chance this people suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder. This is a mental disorder in which a person has an inflated sense of self-importance and requires much appreciation while having a little to no empathy towards others. Under this self-centered mask lies a fragile self-esteem who is very sensitive towards criticism.

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is diagnosed if the patient has five or more symptoms. Symptoms of this disorder deal with a person’s psychological thoughts and ideas. A few symptoms include exaggerating oneself’s importance, believes they are special and can only be understood by other special people or institutions,

requires constant attention and admiration from others, has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment, takes advantage of others to reach their own goals, disregards the feelings of others, or lacks empathy. Onset of this disorder typically occurs in adulthood and 50 to 75 percent of people diagnosed with this disorder are males (Psychology).
People diagnosed with this disorder typically have problems in various life situations such as relationships, school, work, or financial affairs. These people tend to be unhappy or disappointed when they are not given special treatments that they believe they deserve. Others may not like to be around people with this disorder because they find the relationship unfulfilling (Mayo).
The causes of this disorder are still unknown, but since it is a mental disorder the reasons are most likely complex. One possible cause is a mismatch in parent-child relationships with either excessive pampering or excessive criticism. The other possible cause it merely because genetics and the connection between the brain and behavior and thinking (Mayo).
Treatments for this disorder can be tricky because these people are also defensive when it comes to admitting that there is something wrong with them. Individual or group psychotherapy is the best treatment for someone with this disease. Psychotherapy is simply just talking therapy. This is the best treatment because it allows the patient to learn how to have better relationships and understand the causes of their emotions.
Keep in mind it is common for children going through puberty to show the same qualities as a person with this disease, but this does not mean they will acquire this disorder. Since Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a personality disease it will take several years of therapy to fully get past this disease, but it is possible.