Narcissistic Personality Disorder Essay

One in two hundred people are diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder, which is when someone believes that they are better than everyone else. While most of these people are diagnosed in their older stages of life, the roots of narcissistic personality disorder are often seen in their childhood and teen years. The effects of narcissistic personality disorder in adults are similar to the effects in teenagers, while the causes and impacts are different due to being in different stages of their lives. Teenagers having narcissistic personality disorder manifest different behaviors than others, and the root cause is due to parenting and trauma.

Narcissistic behaviors in teens have many negative effects that are caused by feeling overly

In the article “Understanding Teens with a narcissistic personality disorder” by Karmen Smith, a licensed therapist, the article goes into different ways that narcissistic personality disorder can develop. It also goes into signs of narcissistic personality disorder and how to deal with it. Through the many possible causes that cause narcissism, “Teens may also develop this mental health condition as a result of trauma. Experiencing severe loss or extreme trauma early in life might cause teens to develop an identity around their traumatic experiences. They may believe that they’re entitled to special treatment because of what they’ve experienced” (Smith). This supports the claim because it shows that trauma can make teenagers believe that they deserve more because of what has happened to them as if no one else has experienced what they have, which leads to them thinking that they are better than everyone around them, which can cause narcissistic personality disorder. This is significant for the claim because it goes over how trauma can cause certain narcissistic traits, which can lead to the disorder itself. Another source used to prove this is, “Narcissistic traits in young people: understand the role of parenting and maltreatment” by Charlotte C, Van Schie, Heidi L. Jarman, etc, researchers at the University of Wollongong. This article describes the types of narcissism and uses science to explain certain behaviors and causes. Due to trauma being a cause of narcissistic personality disorder, one thing that is commonly associated with trauma is overprotection. In teens, “Remembered overprotection from mothers and fathers was associated with both vulnerable and grandiose narcissistic traits. Remembered maternal overvaluation related to current grandiosity, and maternal leniency related to vulnerable narcissistic traits” (Schie et al.). This supports this because it shows that