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.
Narcissistic personality disorder involves a pattern of self-centered, arrogant thinking and behavior, a lack of empathy and consideration for other people, and an excessive need for admiration. Others often describe people with NPD as cocky, manipulative, selfish, patronizing, and demanding.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is one of several personality disorders. People with this condition have an inflated idea of themselves and a need for lots of attention from other people. It's human nature to be selfish and boastful now and then, but true narcissists take it to an extreme.
For example, people with narcissistic personality disorder often behave in ways that are self-centered and feel more important than others. People with histrionic personality disorder have a need to call attention to themselves and exaggerate their emotional responses.
A borderline narcissist can be described as a person who has BPD and narcissistic traits or co-occurring NPD. In such cases, the BPD individual presents with an unstable sense of self or disconnect from self, poor self-esteem, hypersensitivity to criticism, defensiveness, and feelings of insecurity.
BPD splitting is a symptom of borderline personality disorder (BPD). It's when a person sees everything as black or white, good or bad, or best or worst. Splitting is a defense mechanism people living with BPD use to deal with emotions (such as the fear of abandonment) that they cannot handle.
People with NPD can have a strong sense of superiority. People with BPD may have chronic feelings of emptiness. People with NPD may have no empathy for others. People with BPD may have a genuine interest in other people.
Anxiety drives self-centeredness. It can be an existential insecurity regarding your inherent worth, value, safety, or wholeness. For some, it is a painful sense of a lack of integrity or authenticity. There is a feeling that they are somehow frauds.
The depressed person often has little energy left over to think about others, so may appear overly self-absorbed, often with a host of minor physical complaints. Their problems don't respond to good advice or common sense, so people give up on them.
Avoidant Personality Disorder Symptoms and Signs
Some symptoms of avoidant personality disorder to look out for are: Very low self-esteem and low feelings of self-worth. A tendency to hide, either in baggy, nondescript clothing or by staying in the background in social situations.
Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is associated with an assortment of characteristics that undermine interpersonal functioning. A lack of empathy is often cited as the primary distinguishing feature of NPD.
Specifically, female narcissists are less entitled, impulsive, aggressive, and more empathetic than males diagnosed with NPD. Female narcissists also may display certain distinct traits such as a preoccupation with their appearance or being more prone to envy and jealousy than males.
Type As can also be dangerous to narcissists
Although they can be targeted, type A people can also become a narcissist's worst nightmare. One of the most important defenses against dark personalities is having strong boundaries yourself, and type A people are usually aware they have the right to build them.
Narcissism refers to a trait of being entirely self-obsessed, having very fixed opinions, and a grandiose, unrealistic idea of one's capabilities. The term comes from Narcissus, a character from Greek mythology. Narcissus was a very handsome young man, also very full of himself.
“People with BPD are self-centered.”
People with BPD tend to assume they are burdens and constantly worry they are making people unhappy, which upsets them and can trigger an episode. If anything, people with BPD care too much.
Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) are two different mental health conditions. OCD involves obsessive thoughts while ADHD makes it hard to focus and involves hyperactivity and impulsivity.
Self-centered behavior is common with ADHD.
Another sign of self-centered behavior is not being able to wait for their turn. This can be particularly disruptive in the classroom.
Are people with ADHD more self-centered than the rest of the population? Probably not. However, some of the characteristics of ADHD can give the appearance of being self-centered. As annoying as these characteristics might be to your loved ones and friends, they don't stem from a mean or selfish place.
They Lack Empathy
Being empathetic toward others requires one to put themselves in another person's shoes and understand their feelings. Self-centered people may not be able to see things from another person's perspective in order to empathize with them.
: excessively preoccupied with oneself or with one's own concerns : obsessed with oneself. self-obsessed celebrities. also : characteristic of one who is self-obsessed. self-obsessed thoughts.
Establishing healthy boundaries is key when dealing with self-centered people because in many cases, you might be dealing with family and friends. You're not just going to dismiss them. So, you'll need to have a strong set of boundaries in place mainly to protect yourself.”
Narcissists Think They're Better Than Others
Narcissists believe that they are smarter, more important, or better than others. "Someone who is self-centered may crave attention and find ways to bring the focus of others to themselves, but they are also capable of listening to others," says Henderson.
Quiet borderline personality disorder, or quiet BPD, is a classification some psychologists use to describe a subtype of borderline personality disorder (BPD). While many symptoms of BPD can manifest outward (such as aggression toward others), individuals with quiet BPD may direct symptoms like aggression inward.
It's a technique often used by those with narcissistic and/or borderline personality disorders to deflect any responsibility from themselves.
They may try to bait you into anger, then falsely accuse you of rejecting them, make you doubt reality and your sanity. It's not unusual for them to cut off friends and relatives who they feel have betrayed them.