Are You a Narcissist?

Nar·cis·sism
[nahr-suh-siz-em]
–noun
1.
inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.
—Synonyms
1. self-centeredness, smugness, egocentrism.

I went all summer hearing this word. My teacher would say this word ALL the time. It kind of became a Summer Jerusalem Center joke with all the students. However, most of my time during that particular class I was found catching up with writing in my journal or drawing pictures... It's not my fault... I can testify that A.D.D is real. Anyways, I tried explaining what Narcissism meant to Steven and then I realized that I had no idea what I was talking about. I thought Narcissism was someone who liked fire.(In case you are wondering, a person who loves fire is a pyromaniac.) So we looked it up.



Did you know that Narcissism can be considered a disorder?! It's called Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). The narcissist is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity.Narcissistic personality disorder is closely linked to self-centeredness.
Causes:
The cause of this disorder is unknown, according to Groopman and Cooper. However, they list the following factors identified by various researchers as possibilities.

* An oversensitive temperament at birth is the main symptomatic chronic form
* Being praised for perceived exceptional looks or talents by adults
* Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback
* Excessive praise for good behaviors or excessive criticism for poor behaviors in childhood
* Overindulgence and overvaluation by parents
* Severe emotional abuse in childhood
* Unpredictable or unreliable caregiving from parents
* Valued by parents as a means to regulate their own self-esteem
Treatment:
It is unusual for people to seek therapy for NPD. Subconscious fears of exposure or inadequacy often cause defensive disdain of therapeutic processes. Pharmacotherapy is rarely effective.

I think I might now a few people who suffer from this awful disorder. (I'm not going to name names here but you know who you are). If you need to talk, I'm here. That seems to be the only logical treatment. God Bless.