Last time I talked about psychiatry, I was giving advice on how to write the ultimate psychopath. I mentioned briefly another psychiatric disorder known as Narcissistic Personality Disorder, but I didn’t really delve into it much. However, I decided to create a new post talking specifically about how you can write the ultimate narcissist, because I feel like a character that exhibits narcissism is also a very interesting one to write about. But to write the ultimate narcissist, you have to understand what a narcissist is and how they think, act, feel, and process the world around them.
Although I have not specifically named any of my written characters as narcissists the way I’ve labeled Blide Stevens from Malware as a psychopath, there are characters I’ve written that are, technically speaking, narcissistic.
So, let’s dive into the insanely dark world of Narcissistic Personality Disorder!
WHAT IS NPD?
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is defined by the Cleveland Clinic as the following: “…a mental health condition that affects how you view yourself and relate to others. Having NPD means you have an excessive need to impress others or feel important. That need can be strong enough to drive harmful behaviors, negatively affecting you and those around you.”
One of the biggest things about narcissism is that it’s a pretty broad spectrum of behaviors, interactions, and types. There are types of narcissism where the narcissist is very overt, others where they are covert, and sometimes they can be as close to a psychopath or a sociopath as possible.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder can also be combined in a comorbidity with other mental health states such as sadism, sociopathy, and more. There are so many pieces and parts to NPD, that it can get a bit complicated sometimes. However, I’m going to make it a bit easy for you to understand so that you can write your character well.
If you want to know the more specific differences between psychopathy and NPD, you can check out my post about writing the ultimate psychopath.
NPD VS SOCIOPATHY
Although narcissists can be sociopathic, people who exhibit sociopathy only are different in a few ways. According to Choosing Therapy, “The primary differences between a narcissist and a sociopath come from how the individual views others and the motivation behind their actions. Sociopathy describes people who disregard laws and the rights and feelings of others. Conversely, narcissists lack empathy but do not necessarily intend to cause harm. Sociopaths typically seek to inflict pain, but narcissists desire recognition, attention, and success.”
The idea really stems a lot from motivations, where people with NPD are more likely to want attention more than sociopaths. Sociopaths also tend to be much less calculating than people with NPD and are more likely to inflict harm upon others than those with NPD. However, people with NPD are still very able and are more likely to inflict harm upon others than people without NPD.
Do note that both NPD and sociopathy occur as a product of one’s environment, not naturally born in a person like psychopathy. It is higher on the idea of nurture, not nature.
WHAT CAUSES NPD?
The cause of NPD is pretty interesting, because researchers have not been able to find a single reason. For the most part though, research finds that it’s more a product of someone’s upbringing and environment than the way they were born.
Additionally, a common link between people with NPD is insecurity. Their sense of self and their ego is shaken, so they attempt to compensate for that through narcissistic traits. This is different from psychopaths, who are more stable and sure of themselves and are usually not insecure.
Often, childhood trauma and experiences have been linked to the formulation of NPD. Now, just because someone faced trauma in their childhood, that doesn’t automatically mean they will become a narcissist. However, someone does not become a narcissist without there being some sort of underlying thing going on.
Furthermore, people who grow up with a parent who has NPD may or may not become a narcissist themselves, but this is again, not a guarantee.
COMMON SYMPTOMS OF NPD
Common symptoms of NPD according to the DSM-5 include a grandiose sense of self-importance, frequent fantasies about having/deserving success and power, a belief in being superior to others, a need for admiration and attention, a fragile self-esteem and frequent self-doubt, a preoccupation with what others think of them, a strong sense of entitlement, a lack of empathy, high levels of envy, arrogance, patronizing behavior, and so on and so forth.
Do note though, people can exhibit specific behaviors from the above list without being narcissists. NPD is a very rare disorder and does not affect that many people globally, so be conscious about using the term to describe someone.
THE TYPES OF NPD
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a broad term that encompasses several types of narcissism. Although there are some very specific and very different types out there, a few have been generally accepted by most psychiatrists as the best umbrella terms for NPD. I will discuss three types that I feel are the best for a post like this:
TYPE 1: OVERT NARCISSISM
Overt narcissism is also called grandiose narcissism and it’s when someone with NPD comes across as being very outgoing, arrogant, entitled, exaggerated, and attention-seeking. They are very good at exploiting people and lack empathy. They also like to be the center of attention and will try to direct things like conversations to revolve around them.
Overt narcissists can be very overconfident and think they are much better at things than they really are. Additionally, they are high on extraversion and openness. You’ve likely encountered someone like this, as they tend to be the very show-off types.
TYPE 2: COVERT NARCISSISM
Covert narcissism is very different from overt narcissism. People who have covert narcissism are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and shame. They are more defensive, are more likely to avoid people, and tend to be very insecure about themselves. They also play the victim a lot and may try to paint “woe is me” pictures for others to give them sympathy.
People who are covert are very bad at taking in criticism, because they may take the criticism more harshly and will internalize it to further their feelings of low self-esteem.
TYPE 3: MALIGNANT NARCISSISM
One of the most terrifying forms of narcissism, people with malignant narcissism are as close to being sociopaths and psychopaths than any other form of narcissism. In fact, researchers have found a lot of commonly shared traits between malignant narcissism and antisocial personality disorder, which is the blanket term for psychopathy and sociopathy.
Those with malignant narcissism have a strong need for praise and they want to feel elevated over others. However, they are also sadistic in nature and derive pleasure from the pain of others. They are very paranoid about threats towards them. They are also very aggressive when interacting with people.
People with malignant narcissism are vengeful people and are highly lacking in empathy and feelings for others. They are more calculating than other types of narcissism.
THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHEN DESIGNING YOUR CHARACTER
Keep in mind that when you’re writing a character with narcissistic personality disorder, that they have to have a reason for turning out that way. Go into this to give your readers context. Portray things like their childhood and maybe certain traumas that made them this way.
Also, it’s important to understand that NPD is not curable. Nobody with NPD can change and no amount of therapy can fix it. They deflect, project, and will defend their behavior. They are also highly prone to gaslighting people, which is when they try to shake your sense of reality and convince you that your reality is fake. This is why many therapists refuse to take on NPD cases, because it’s basically unfixable, even by professionals. It would be very wrong to have a change-of-heart scene for characters with NPD.
Not all people with NPD are sadistic and out to kill or anything like that, as a lot of them are scared of being seen in a negative light and go for self-preservation a lot. However, if you want to write a character with NPD who is a criminal, I would say pick to write from the lens of malignant narcissism, as they are more likely to be criminals than the other types.
If you want to write a character that plays the victim all the time, antagonizes others, etc…, a covert narcissist is a better pick. A character that is a show-off, arrogant jerk is likely an overt narcissist.
One of the biggest parts of NPD is the fact that the person with NPD tends to be insecure and will attempt to one-up other people in a way that makes them feel better about themselves. This often dips into territory where they make the other person feel bad simultaneously.
What other psychiatric/personality disorders do you all want me to discuss when writing a character? Let me know in the comments section and I’ll get to them ASAP 🙂 !
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