Cluster B: Narcissistic Personality Disorder Characteristics (Nursing)

00:02 Narcissistic personality disorder.

00:04 This is where a person really feels as though, they are entitled to everything.

00:11 Their self-importance is so enormous that no one even comes close to them.

00:18 They believe in their own well being.

00:20 They believe in their own intelligence.

00:23 They believe in their ability to command the world.

00:29 If we can stop for a second to think about the fact that to take this away from this person.

00:36 This person who believes that they are entitled to everything, that their importance is, they are the most important person in the world.

00:46 That they are grandiose in their thinking, because no one can even come close to them.

00:51 That they are the smartest, the fastest, the most brilliant, the best looking.

00:59 To try and have this person, not think that after a lifetime of believing that, what are we leaving them with? Where did they go? If you believed in something your whole life, and someone comes up and says, "This is totally untrue." What are we doing? So we really want to think about the fact that this person, again, this person is like that child who's blind.

01:32 This person does not know another way of thinking about themselves.

01:37 In fact, if you start telling them that you have some need, they're going to see that as a weakness.

01:44 They're not going to be empathetic with you, they're going to be disdainful for that.

01:49 They don't want to be around people who aren't as strong, as wonderful as they are.

01:55 So, in fact, what does that say about them? That we can't give them any corrections, that we can't tell them how they might actually be better at something.

02:08 It actually speaks to the fact that they have a very weak sense of self-esteem, that they are really super hypersensitive to any criticism at all. Why? Because that would make that whole house of cards crumble.

02:27 If we can take away one piece of it, then everything that they believe, might not be true.

02:35 And so they have to surround themselves with admirers.

02:39 They need their entourage.

02:41 And that entourage has to have loyalty as their number one attribute.

02:47 Never question, always loyal.

02:50 They also find that they have not as well functioning when they are out and about.

03:00 There are other personality disorders that they actually have higher impairment.

03:09 People with narcissistic personality disorder have really learned how to manipulate the world.

03:15 And so they can function in the world.

03:19 They can rise to power.

03:21 They can figure out how to get people to like them.

03:27 They can actually convince people.

03:29 Cult leaders usually demonstrate a lot of the characteristics of narcissistic personality disorder.

03:37 Because what does a cult leader need? A cult leader needs to have 100% loyalty.

03:44 That the schema or the story around the cult and the leader is not permeable.

03:53 Otherwise, the cult falls apart.

03:55 So the functioning level of people with narcissistic personality disorder can be extremely high.

04:04 They expect everyone to obey them.

04:09 They expect everyone to admire them.

04:12 This is their story.

04:14 And when they get treatment, they're not really going to be accepting what you say.

04:25 They may be doing it when other people who they care about are saying "You have to do this." But it's very hard the narcissistic personality disorder, the patient who has these characteristics, they come in, and you see the kind of this kind of look like "Okay, sure, sure.

04:44 All right, I could try that." But it is not about us.

04:49 It is not about us trying to change them.

04:53 A person can't start getting better, until they decide that they're in a place that's not so good.

05:02 A person who loses a sense of smell and doesn't smell their own body odor.

05:08 They might not take a shower because they think they smell alright.

05:12 And it isn't until they get into a room and everyone moves away, and somebody who they care about says, "You know, hey, you may want to take a bath." That person suddenly becomes aware of the fact that So maybe to please others, I should do this." When we think about someone with a narcissistic personality disorder, I'd like you to think about that.

05:34 That this works for them.

05:36 Why change something when it's working for them?