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NPD (narcissistic personality disorder) is a mental condition that those with true narcissism suffer from. These people have an inflated sense of self-worth and are usually driven by attention. They do not think much of those they cannot benefit by being around and are usually quite manipulative.

If someone in your life is always belittling you and asking for favors without doing anything for you in return, they could have NPD. People with NPD are arrogant and usually come across as quite boastful. Chances are you won’t like being around them once their true colors come forth.

That all having been said, narcissists are not just people who are a little selfish or people who simply like to get their way. Not every ‘asshole’ you meet is a true narcissist and everyone needs to work to be more aware of that. In this day and age, we use the word narcissist too freely and do not realize just how serious the mental illness that drives it is.

While it is very hard to empathize with narcissists because of the way that they are, it is important to keep in mind that they DID NOT choose to be the way that they are. Changing or even acknowledging the problem itself is very complicated and in many ways seemingly ‘impossible’ for them. Narcissistic people get NPD through a lot of different things. Some of the driving factors behind it are insensitive parenting, over-praising, negligent care, excessive criticism, trauma, and being held to extremely high expectations.

While as humans we all have our own healthy levels of narcissism present in our lives, true narcissistic people are unable to cap that off. They keep feeding into it and are unable to set real boundaries within themselves. They process this kind of thing differently than you and I would. NPD drives a defensive form of narcissism that makes a person never want to feel inferior and drives them to do all they can to ensure that they are able to accomplish exactly that.

Psychology Today wrote as follows in regards to how unhealthy defensive narcissism is as a whole:

Having NPD is like going through life always on the defensive. If you are Narcissistic, your self-esteem is always on the line. You tend to feel insulted and criticized when no insult or criticism is intended. In addition, you lack emotional empathy. You do not feel any pain when you hurt other people, or if you do, it is much less than the average person feels. As a result, your sensitivity is all one-way: you may attack someone else for the slightest misstep or even for using the wrong word, while you know in your heart that this person could be dying in front of you and all you would feel is annoyed at the inconvenience.

It is hard for narcissists to really nurture their relationships and have true connections with other people in this world. While the goal of this article is not to make you feel bad for the narcissist, we do want you to actually understand them on a core level if nothing else. They are always fighting their own minds trying to prove that they are as superior to everyone else as they feel that they are.

For more information on narcissists please feel free to check out the video below. There is a lot more to them than most realize and that needs to change. We all need to know what kinds of people are present in this world.