You may probably have heard of the term narcissist, and narcissism disorder. It is a fairly well-known character trait and one may often know such an individual in one’s life.
Medically, narcissism is considered a personality disorder (narcissistic personality disorder -NPD), and if you learn about it, it’s easy to see why that’s the prevailing opinion.
Let’s talk about some signs that will likely show you that you’re dealing with a narcissist.
They Don’t Care About Your Accomplishments
Since narcissists care about themselves more than they do about anything else, it makes sense that they won’t care about your accomplishments very much. If they ever do something good, they probably will not be able to stop crowing about it. You can win a Nobel Peace Prize, a Pulitzer, and then climb Mount Everest, but a narcissist won’t think that’s impressive at all because they weren’t the ones who did it!!
They Always Forget About Important Dates
A narcissist can have hurt feelings if you forget about their birthday or some other date that’s important to them. However, since they don’t care about other people, they may forget about your meaningful dates all the time.
If you want a narcissist to remember your birthday, you may have to remind them numerous times, and even then, they’ll likely forget. That’s just the way that they’re wired.
They Always Steer the Conversation Back to Them
If you try striking up a conversation with a narcissist, you might begin by talking about something that’s happening with you, but it won’t stay that way for long. Almost every time, they will immediately find ways to steer the conversation so that they’re talking about themselves.
They say about narcissists that if you’re not talking about them, they aren’t listening. They are their own favorite subject, and they will talk about themselves and what’s happening in their lives endlessly. If you try to steer the conversation back to what’s happening with you, they’ll immediately get bored.
They Never Contact You
If you’ve got a relationship with a narcissist, but you don’t live with them, then you will almost always have to reach out to them if you want to see how they’re doing or if you want to tell them about what’s happening in your life. Whether you prefer to reach out to someone by phone call, text message, or in some other way, it’s always you making the effort, and not the other way around.
That’s because a narcissist will take it as a matter of course that you should be the one maintaining the relationship. Since they’re more important than you, they feel this is how it should be.
They Can Never Understand If Your Feelings Are Hurt
A narcissist can have hurt feelings, but it’s harder for them to conceive of your feelings being hurt. Since they’re the focal point of their world, no one else is as fully realized as them in their mind.
Watch for these traits to determine whether there’s a narcissist in your life.
Treatment for NPD is available, and many people are able to find relief from their patterns of behavior.
This article has been contributed by First Light Recovery, Primary Residential Mental Health.
There are other different types of temperament and personality disorders (read below).
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