What is "narcissistic personality disorder"

n. A personality disorder characterized largely by an overinflated sense of self-importance typically caused by unbalanced parental valuation during childhood.

Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a long-term pattern of abnormal behavior characterized by exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of understanding of others' feelings. People affected by it often spend a lot of time thinking about achieving power or success, or about their appearance. They often take advantage of the people around them. The behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a variety of situations.

The cause of narcissistic personality disorder is unknown. It is a personality disorder classified within cluster B by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Diagnosis is by a healthcare professional interviewing the person in question. The condition needs to be differentiated from mania and substance use disorder.

Treatments have not been well studied. Therapy is often difficult as people frequently do not consider themselves to have a problem. The personality was first described in 1925 by Robert Waelder while the current name for the condition came into use in 1968. About one percent of people are believed to be affected at some point in their life. It appears to occur more often in males than females and affects young people more than older people.