What Is a Narcissistic Personality Disorder?

By james

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There are countless different types of personality in the world. Some people are quite reserved whereas others are more outgoing. Many people are modest, whereas other people are more boastful. We might not always like individuals of a certain personality type, but it won’t usually cause any significant problems.

Some people’s personality types can be extreme, to the point where it is considered a disorder. Such disorders have the potential to cause considerable damage to the life of the patient, and to other people around them. One example of such a disorder is narcissistic personality disorder, and it has the potential to be very damaging indeed.

1. Narcissus

Narcissistic personality disorder takes its name from a story in Greek mythology. Narcissus was a hunter who was the son of a god, and was very good looking. His good looks meant that many people would fall in love with him, but he treated those people with contempt. This caused anguish for some, and his behavior was soon noticed.

In order to exact justice on narcissus, a goddess by the name of Nemesis lead Narcissus to a pool. On looking into the pool, Narcissus saw his own reflection and immediately fell in love with it. So fixated was he by his reflection that he was unable to leave it, and eventually wilted away.