Even though not all narcissists lie about their health, they are more likely to lie in general and less likely to feel guilty about deceiving others (O'Reilly & Doerr, 2020).
Some narcissists go to extreme lengths to establish or maintain relationships that are self-serving—even if that means lying about their health or survival.
Narcissists master the art of malingering. Fabricating an affliction or exaggerating a minor illness is used to seek attention, gain sympathy, or simply avoid responsibility (Bratskeir, 2019).
They may do this because they: have a compulsion to punish themselves (masochism) by making themselves ill because they feel unworthy. need to feel important and be the centre of attention. need to pass responsibility for their wellbeing and care on to other people.
The narcissist will start discounting doctors, minimizing the effects of the illness, and parading others around with similar illnesses in an effort to shame their spouse into believing that the sickness is only a mental manifestation of the spouses weakness. This is like pouring salt onto an open wound.
Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others.
It is because of this that they may find it difficult to understand other people's feelings or perspectives, a self-centredness that can cause them to act selfishly and exploit others for their own gain. “As narcissists do not have empathy, they are not able to genuinely care or love you,” explains Davey.
Narcissists and psychopaths are disordered in their thoughts (not in the way that schizophrenics are), disordered in emotion processing, and disordered in their sense of self. Personality disorders just happens to 'look' very different from our other mental disorders – they are in a class or category of their own.
Physical symptoms
Look for signs of a fever and keep them home if they have anything over 100 degrees. Vomiting and diarrhea are other tell-tale signs of legitimate illness. A rash is another symptom of actual illness. Like a fever, a rash is hard to fake.
An inability to bear the truth
Attorney Rebecca Zung writes about what happens when you catch a narcissist in a lie. They will either deny, deflect, devalue, and/or dismiss you.
Some of the most popular ways narcissists use withholding include stonewalling (the shutting down of conversations before they've even begun), the silent treatment, a sudden withdrawal of affection and physical intimacy without reason, and unexplained disappearances where they refuse to contact you or engage with you ...
Bottom Line. Narcissists can sometimes be helpful and caring. However, more often than not, they only pretend to have these qualities.
This is why narcissists and psychopaths often contradict themselves. Tomorrow's confabulation often negates yesterday's. The narcissist and psychopath do not remember their previous tales because they are not invested with the emotions and cognitions that are integral parts of real memories.
“There are varying motives, but in my experience, the search for nurturance is number one. Others feel as if they don't have control over their own lives, and manipulating professionals allows them to feel in control,” Feldman says. Still, for some, it's an underlying personality disorder driving chronic deceit.
Narcissistic lies are used by narcissistic liars to boost their self-esteem and grandiosity. They may lie about how great they are or exaggerate the truth so that things appear better than they are. These people do not mind crossing limits or going to extents to serve their intent or purpose.
Munchausen syndrome is a rare type of mental disorder where a patient fakes illness to gain attention and sympathy. It's hard to diagnose because many other conditions need to be ruled out first.
Munchausen syndrome (factitious disorder imposed on self) is when someone tries to get attention and sympathy by falsifying, inducing, and/or exaggerating an illness. They lie about symptoms, sabotage medical tests (like putting blood in their urine), or harm themselves to get the symptoms.
People who malinger pretend to be ill to gain some sort of benefit, such as avoiding military duty or trying to obtain compensation. People with Munchausen's syndrome know they're making their symptoms up and can be highly manipulative, but their behaviour brings them no obvious benefit.
They found that patients with NPD have less brain matter in areas overlapping with the areas associated with empathy (i.e., rostral and median cingulate cortex, left anterior insula, and dorsolateral and medial parts of the prefrontal cortex).
Hypochondria is when you have abnormal anxiety about your health, especially an irrational fear of suffering from a serious disease. An introverted narcissist often suffers from hypochondria. They use sickness and disease to garner attention.
The best way to know if a narcissist loves you is by looking at their behavior over time rather than just relying on words or expressions of affection. If they are consistently putting your needs first, even when it doesn't directly benefit them, then it may be possible that they truly care for you.
They can show great interest in romantic prospects and seduce with generosity, expressions of love, flattery, sex, romance, and promises of commitment. Amorous narcissists (Don Juan and Mata Hari types) are adept and persuasive lovers and may have many conquests, yet remain single.