We all need to build relationships to sustain our lives. It’s in our nature to relate with other people, to grow close and to connect with them. Building relationships will always be a huge part of our life’s purpose and is key to our mental and emotional wellbeing.

However, what if you find yourself in a toxic, unhealthy relationship with someone who tends to love themselves more than you or anything else in the world? While self-love is key to being a genuine, loving person, this person’s ‘love’ for themselves may have grown excessively toxic and unhealthy.

A person who is overly preoccupied with themselves and who is incapable of recognizing the value of others may be classed as being narcissistic.

The word “narcissism” traces its origin from Narcissus, a hunter from Thespiae in Greek mythology, who was believed to have fallen in love with his own reflection (and perished because of it). Similarly, the word narcissist refers to a person who has an unhealthy fixation with themselves. Continue reading →

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a mental condition and a personality disorder whereby an individual exhibits excessive admiration and love for oneself. At an unconscious level, they believe that other people’s feelings are far less important than their own, to a damaging extent that profoundly affects their relationships with others.

NPD was officially classified by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1968, and today, it is widely recognized that there are narcissists everywhere. According to the abovementioned Manual, an individual has to exhibit at least five or more of the nine specific narcissistic personality traits to be classified as one.

These nine distinct traits are: Continue reading →