Explainer | Understanding narcissism: how to spot narcissists, what causes the mental disorder, and how to deal with them – a psychologist reveals all

‘Narcissism’ is trending on Instagram, but many may not know what defines narcissistic personality disorder. An expert outlines the condition’s nine features

Genes and early childhood trauma can contribute to narcissism, and there may be more narcissists out there than you think, so approaching them correctly is key

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Narcissism is a mental disorder with symptoms including inflated self-importance and arrogance, and it effects one in 50 of us. A psychologist reveals what leads to narcissistic personality disorder, and how you can deal with narcissists in your midst. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 6:15pm, 11 Feb 2024Updated: 11:45am, 19 Feb 2024

Scrolling through her teenage daughter’s social media feed, Samantha pulls a face and says: “Young people these days are so self-absorbed, they’re all narcissists.”

Twenty-five-year old Rebecca recently broke up with her boyfriend. Feeling hurt and at a low ebb, she confides to her best friend: “He’s a narcissist, I’m traumatised.”

Narcissism is trending on social media: a quick search showed Instagram alone has more than 868,000 #narcissism posts.

That makes it easy to believe that we’re surrounded by egotistical, manipulative and possibly even malevolent people waiting to prey on the unsuspecting.

An Instagram search for #narcissism garners over 868,000 posts. Photo: Instagram

That narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is actually a clinical diagnosis is often overlooked.

According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) – the standard classification and diagnostic tool for mental disorders – it is a “cluster B” disorder, which means that afflicted people have difficulties regulating their emotions and behaviour.