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Symptoms and Signs
The diagnostic criteria for narcisistic personality disorder is characterized as a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy. These individuals display an exaggerated sense of self-importance, which is manifest in a pretentious, boastful overestimation of abilities and
Brief reactive psychoses may occur, which are experienced as a loss of the sense of continuity of oneself as worthwhile and lovable in the face of a current disappointment, criticism, or
Depression is common, as is chronic intense envy. Defensive self-delusion or lying to oneself by distorting the
Differential Diagnosis
Individuals with narcisistic personality disorder lack the impulsivity, self-destructiveness, and instability of
Epidemiology
Prevalence estimates for narcisistic personality disorder are 1% in narcisistic personality disorder, narcisistic, narcisistic
Etiology & Pathogenesis
In normal psychological development, all very young children have an exaggerated sense of their own importance as well as an idealized view of parental figures as protective, powerful, and immortal. These immature, idealized views of
Treatment
Long-term psychoanalytic psychotherapy and psychoanalysis have been attempted with these patients. The goal is
Narcisistic Personality Disorder in Medical Practice
Narcisistic patients try to sustain an image of perfection and personal invincibility for themselves and attempt to
Physical illness may shatter this illusion, and a patient may lose the feeling of safety inherent in a cohesive sense of self. This loss precipitates a panicky sensation of insecurity, and the patient feels a sense of
The narcisistic individual shares with the histrionic personality a concern about loss of admiration and approval, but the person with narcissistic personality disorder shows a more disturbed response to illness. The histrionic patient's idealization of the physician stands in contrast to the narcissistic patient's frequent contemptuous disregard for the physician, who is denigrated in a defensive effort to maintain a sense of superiority and mastery over illness.
An initial approach of support followed by step-by-step confrontation of the patient's vulnerabilities may enable the patient to deal with the implications of illness with
The increased self-confidence may reduce the patient's need to attack the health care team in a misguided effort at psychological self-preservation and eases the pressure to provide perfect care, since the patient's antagonistic feeling of