Coping with Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Coping with individuals with narcissistic personality disorders can be frustrating and stress-inducing. Narcissistic personality disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration and a lack of empathy that begins in early adulthood and is present in a variety of contexts (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth Edition Text Revision; American Psychiatric Association; 2000). These individuals have a grandiose sense of self-importance and appear boastful and pretentious. They routinely overestimate their abilities and inflate their accomplishments. They believe that they are superior and compare themselves favorably with famous or privileged people. They typically devalue the contributions of others, acknowledging only their own accomplishments (or perception of accomplishments). They participate in activities or careers that will provide them with the admiration and praise that they desire. These traits are immensely difficult for friends and family to cope with, often leading to social isolation and limited contact with family. They fail to see these social limitations as due to their own behavior, due to their superior nature, thus placing the blame on others.

While many do not believe in God or any higher power, some individuals with narcissistic personality disorders incorporate religious belief into their self-righteous perceptions. They do this through their belief that they are better Christians (place your own religious belief here) than others, or that their behavior is justified through their spiritual beliefs. 

These individuals, as defined by personality disorders, have dysfunctional perceptions of themselves and the world around them. They do not see the error in their thinking and believe that their perceptions are perfectly rational. While they may recognize the dysfunctional relationships in their lives, they attribute others with the cause of the dysfunction. Treatment of this condition is also quite challenging, due to the previously noted impaired perception as well as their belief that they are superior to others, including mental health professionals. Thus, prognosis is poor. 

Coping with individuals with narcissistic personality disorder, or narcissistic traits, is challenging. Do not try to change the individual yourself. This will only lead to further frustration and will not be productive. Instead, try to change your thinking about the individual. When you feel offended by his behavior, hurt by his statements or appalled by the lack of empathy for others, try to accept this as a disorder. Understand that the person's thinking is dysfunctional, and that you have done nothing to contribute to the negative behavior. If this proves too difficult, due to the limited possibility of improvement, it may be necessary to cut ties with this person or people. For more information about Narcissistic Personality Disorder refer to http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/narcissistic-personality-disorder 
or http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS00652