Narcissism is getting a lot of press lately. You may assume someone important in you life is a total narcissist. Maybe your boss seems self-consumed and doesn't care about your opinions or experiences in the workplace. Perhaps your spouse is neglectful and seems to care only about his/her perspective and interests. Maybe your parent is self-absorbed and lives by the adage, "my way or the highway." These are all problematic ways to behave in relationships, but they may not indicate that the person is a narcissist.
According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, "the prevalence of Narcissistic Personality Disorder in the general population sample was 6.2%, which falls in the middle of the broad range of estimates (0.0%–14.7%) found in previous epidemiologic surveys." (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/p...) When my clients come in to process their feelings and difficulties that stem from having a "narcissist" in their life, there are often clues that narcissistic personality disorder isn't at the core at all, even though certainly some narcissistic traits are present. The first clue is the prevalence in the general population: full-blown narcissistic personality disorder, or NPD, just isn't that common. So what is at play? What is a person to do if they have a boss, partner, parent or child who is wreaking havoc in their relationship with what is often recognized as "narcissistic behavior?"
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