What is it, and what do we do?

So, like I said, today I want to talk with you about Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Now, our community, so many of you have requested this, and so what that tells me is that

if you are worried that maybe you're the only person out there who's been diagnosed with it,

or it's so weird, I'm embarrassed.

Don't be. You're not alone.

This diagnosis exists for a reason. People struggle with this, right?

And so what I'm just going to tell you about today is

what are the characteristics of it, how do clinicians look at clients and try to figure out

what they may be struggling with?

And the main point of this being that if you think that you're struggling with this,

this video is in no way to help you diagnose yourself,

but it means that maybe you should seek out a therapist.

Because that would be my number one recommendation for those of you who are struggling with this

or have this diagnosis.

Is seek help. See a psychiatrist, see a therapist, get some support because like everything that I talk about,

we can work through it, right?

We can make it more manageable so that we don't feel so hindered by our diagnosis.

Okay? So. Someone with Narcissistic Personality Disorder, what does it look like?

Now, the number one thing that as a therapist I'd be like, "Oh, that's a little red flag, maybe this is something

that they struggle with."

Is someone who has a really inflated sense of self.

They'll feel really good about who they are.

I call it kind of puffer chesting.

We're so proud, we're so excited, and we think that everything we do is like, better than sliced bread.

We oftentimes think that everything we're doing is great.

And we also tend to lack empathy for other people because we see those people as almost competitors.

And we're trying to get better, and we're the best, we're number one, right?

And we will sometimes even put people down or hurt others, like, climb over people at work to get that

job that we think we deserve.

So, it can be difficult sometimes for people we're in relationships with because we have to be the best.

And we believe we're the best and we can be really stubborn about it too.

And I can even admit, I am very stubborn. So, I totally understand.

But this is something that will just permeate a lot of our life and so it can be really difficult.

And in school and in work it usually comes out first because those are places of competition.

And since we have this belief that, you know, that we're very unique and that nobody else can actually

understand our experience, that we are the best in everything,

it can be really difficult at work and in school because it's supposed to be a place of, not equality, but

working together, right? As a team.

I have my notes down here, I don't want to forget anything else.

Also, we crave a lot of admiration from others and a lot of compliments

and we need constant support, I guess.

I always call it like, you need a lot of pats on the back, because even though we're really puffer chesting,

oftentimes if we're criticized even once, we feel horribly wounded. And it can be,

We will actually really overreact to any kind of criticism, even if it's constructive.

We can feel like it's a huge put down. It's almost like somebody took a pin to our balloon.

We feel horrible.

So, if these are any of the symptoms that you think that you, yourself are struggling with make sure you reach out

and get help, because I'm here to help give you information that helps you better find the treatment that you need,

and that you deserve.

Because we all deserve to feel better, and we all deserve to work through things, right?

And have better management of any of the symptoms that we're having.

And know that you're not alone, like I said. There were so many requests for this.

So if you like this video, give it a thumbs up.

And always leave your comments below.

And make sure you add me on Google+, into your circles, so that when you leave your comments

I can comment back and we can have a conversation.

So I hope you found this helpful, and I hope you'll keep working with me, putting one foot in front of the other

towards a healthy mind and a healthy body.

Subtitles by the Amara.org community