I like writers like Katie Heaney for showing why it is so difficult to write about narcissism seriously.

First, to date, there have been no clinical trials on ‘narcissistic personality disorder’. See a) Caligor, Eve; Levy, Kenneth N.; Yeomans, Frank E. (May 2015). “Narcissistic Personality Disorder: Diagnostic and Clinical Challenges”. The American Journal of Psychiatry. 172 (5): 415–22. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14060723. PMID 25930131.

Second, because of the sparse and contradictory research literature, narcissistic personality disorder was set to be eliminated from the current psychiatrist’s diagnostic manual (DSM-5) just as other ‘disorders’ such as homosexuality had been previously eliminated. However, in response to pressure from professional groups, the decision to remove narcissistic personality disorder was reversed, and today it has been reinserted as a pathology in the current DSM-5 with a far from unanimous recall. To confirm this turbulent clinical history of NPD, read: b) Shedler J, Beck A, Fonagy P, et al.: Personality disorders in DSM-5. Am J Psychiatry 2010; 167:1026–1028 Link, Google Scholar c)Ronningstam E: Narcissistic personality disorder in DSM-V: in support of retaining a significant diagnosis. J Pers Disord 2011; 25:248–259 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar d) Miller JD, Widiger TA, Campbell WK: Narcissistic personality disorder and the DSM-V. J Abnorm Psychol 2010; 119:640–649 Crossref, Medline, Google Scholar

Third, narcissism is an ancient myth that has been trashed by the medical and psychiatric tradition. What is curious is that although these psychiatric labels have been refuted quite some time ago, they continue to be bantered about. I have traced these misreadings here.

Cheers,

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