Ep 21: Narcissistic Personality Disorder | The 9 Symptoms

In this episode of the Personality Couch Podcast, we (licensed clinical psychologists Doc Bok and Doc Fish) delve into the complexities of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). We explore the historical origins of narcissism, the DSM criteria for diagnosing NPD, and the key characteristics of individuals with this disorder, including a lack of empathy and pervasive envy. Our conversation highlights the roots, characteristics, and the dual nature of narcissism, as well as the challenges in researching NPD. We highlight characteristics such as grandiose self-importance, the need for excessive admiration, and the interpersonal exploitation that can occur in relationships. We also give a preview on the vulnerable aspects of narcissism, highlighting how it can manifest as low self-esteem and social withdrawal, a topic that will be discussed in an upcoming episode!

Chapters
00:00 Intro to Narcissistic Personality Disorder
01:07 Historical Context of Narcissism
06:02 Defining Narcissistic Personality Disorder
09:32 First Symptom: Lack of Empathy
    10:52 NPD vs Autism
14:24 Second Symptom: Envy
15:46 Third Symptom: Fantasies of Success, Power, Beauty
16:33 Fourth Symptom: Grandiosity
17:55 Fifth Symptom: The Need for Specialness
20:54 Sixth Symptom: Excessive Admiration
22:22 Seventh Symptom: Entitlement
24:17 Eighth Symptom: Exploitation in Relationships
26:25 Ninth Symptom: Arrogance and Haughty Attitudes
27:37 Vulnerable Narcissism

References:

• American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders: DSM-5-TR (5th edition, text revision.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787 Blaney, P. H., Krueger, R. F., Millon, T. (Eds.). (2014). Oxford textbook of psychopathology (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
• Blashfield, R. K., & Intoccia, V. (2000). Growth of literature on the topic of personality disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry, 157(3), 472-473.
• Millon, T. (2011). Disorders of personality: Introducing a DSM / ICD spectrum from normal to abnormal (3rd edition). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
• South, S. C., Eaton, N. R., & Krueger, R. F. (2011). Narcissism in official psychiatric classification systems: Toward DSM-5. In Campbell, W. K. & Miller, J. D. (Eds.), The handbook of narcissism and narcissistic personality disorder: Theoretical approaches, empirical findings, and treatments (pp. 22-30). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118093108.ch3