Ambardar, Sheenie, and David Bienenfeld. “Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Practice Essentials, Background, Pathophysiology and Etiology.” Medscape Reference, 27 September 2023, https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1519417-overview?form=fpf#a5. Accessed 16 August 2024.

Reference for Prevalence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

•Present in 0.5% of the general U.S population

•Found in 2-16% of those seeking help from mental professionals

•Found in 20% of the military population, 17% of medical school first-year students, and 6% of the forensic population

•Manifests by early adulthood and may worsen in middle or old age

•More commonly found in males than females; of those diagnosed with NPD, 75% are male

Boston College

Narcissistic Personality Disorder (often abbreviated as NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by extreme grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy. People with Narcissistic Personality Disorder display several or more of the following characteristics in ways that hinder social and workplace functioning: 

- Grandiose sense of self-importance, such as exaggerating talents and achievements 
- Preoccupation with unrealistic fantasies of success 
- Unwilling to associate with those they consider to be less important than they are 
- Sense of entitlement 
- Lack of empathy for others 
- Envy of others or belief that others are envious of them 

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Prevalence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder

•Treatment is centered around psychotherapy

•Learning to better relate with others so that the patient's relationships improve and are more rewarding

•Understanding the causes of emotions and what drives the patient to distrust others, compete, and why they dislike others

•Learn to engage in and maintain personal relationships/work with co-workers

•Be better about managing feelings and how to deal with self-esteem issues

•Set obtainable goals instead of desiring things that are unrealistic

•Only take medications to help with other mental disorders the patient may be facing(anxiety, depression, etc)

Treatment for Narcissistic Personality Disorder

The basis for a diagnosis is having a pervasive pattern of grandiosity(in behavior or fantasy), lack of empathy, and a need for admiration. These should begin by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts as indicated by 5 or more of the following:

1. Has grandiose sense of self-importance
2. Is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, beauty, brilliance, or ideal love
3. Believes that she/he is special and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with higher-status people
4. Requires excessive attention
5. Has a sense of entitlement
6. Lacks empathy; unwilling to recognize the feelings of others
7. Is interpersonally exploitive 
8. Often envious of others and/or believes others are envious of them
9. Shows arrogant behavior or attitude

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