Topics: dating a narcissistic personality disorder men
The American Psychiatric Association Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM 5) defines NPD as “a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy". The patient with NPD has a grandiose sense of self-importance manifested in terms of unreasonable expectations such as being recognized as superior or special; receiving favorable treatment, and automatic compliance. Fantasies , in turn, revolve around “unlimited success, power brilliance, beauty or ideal love ” (pp. 669-670).
As such, there is no place for empathetic regard for others. This is because the person with NPD does not perceive any other perspective but his own as veridical. Those who disagree with his perspective are “stupid” or otherwise misguided; whereas those who agree are praiseworthy—at least so long as they continue to agree.
In this topsy-turvy epistemological climate, it is not quite accurate to say that the person with NPD tells lies or is a liar; for the liar intentionally tries to deceive others by saying things he believes to be false. In contrast, a person with NPD has the grandiose idea that he is judge and jury of reality and that therefore, if he says something, then it must be true. The disorder, therefore, lies in an epistemological deformity—a breakdown of the ordinary constructs of truth and falsity that make satisfactory interpersonal relationships possible.