Narcissism amplifies the dopamine I get. I get lot of dopamine even from low effort tasks or things I did no effort in achieving. I constantly ask myself questions like, "Why I'm so high IQ", "Why I'm so beautiful". The duration of supply is short, 5 seconds at most. Tasks like solving a math, leetcode or any other cognitively demanding problem, gaining knowledge of something gives me most dopamine even more than what I get from "manipulating" people. submitted by /u/Chooseausername6544 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I'm a 25 year old guy and I think that I have mild narcissism—more the overt type than the covert type. I'm obsessed with trying to be popular and gaining people's approval. I feel special and like I'm a man of destiny who deserves to have an extraordinary life. My strongest desire is to be famous. Whenever something happens that hurts my ego or makes me feel like someone doesn't approve of me, I overreact and question my self-worth. It seems as if my self-esteem rapidly fluctuates. I also use stimulants to enhance my ego. I have problems with substances but my main addiction is sex and I'm o ..read more

It was reallllly embarrassing and awkward to talk about. Especially, because she always likes to compliment me on my empathy. So I was scared of breaking that positive image she had of me. I worked up the courage to be like, ya know when you compliment me on my empathy, it’s very nice of you, and I appreciate it, but it feels odd, because it’s actually something I struggle with. I was expecting her to be invalidating, as previous therapists have. But she totally believed me. She told me that she never said I was high sympathy, like feeling sorry for people, but that I’m good at taking other p ..read more

I've been doing telehealth therapy for two months (9 sessions) and have yet to get to any kind of diagnosis. How long did it take you to get diagnosed, did you find yourself being dishonest for a while, etc.? submitted by /u/headhurdygurdy [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I have been through many collapses and each time they have made me wonder whether or not I have borderline because of the way I feel about myself during. I tend to feel worthless, suicidal, ugly, shameful etc. and feel particularly needy towards the people closest to me so they can reiterate I’m not these things. This makes me feel slightly more borderline because it is known they become depressed when alone/depend on people. But I never tend to act out on these feelings, I just feel it inside and have to manipulate people in to get the validation I want because I don’t want to come across we ..read more

I had a therapist on campus but I don’t see her right now because I’m studying abroad. I also do recognize I’ve been using my therapy session with my campus therapist as manipulation practice and seeing therapy as a game on whether she can uncover my trauma/I can conceal things from her. Now that I’m abroad, I’ve been seeing another virtual therapist. She has refused to formally diagnose me after four weekly sessions even though she said “you definitely show strong signs of narcissistic personality disorder and a bit of ASPD tendencies with an avoidant attachment style. But you definitely do ..read more

I’m doing a psych evaluation next month, primarily to get my autism diagnosis, but since it’s one of those things where they check you for everything this will obviously come up. I don’t intend to lie and run from the label. My parents bitch a lot about my selfishness that I can’t control, I legitimately just cannot care like my mind doesn’t work that way, and I’m wondering if telling them might help that situation (ie as an excuse) or if it would have the opposite effect? I’m trying to keep our relationship somewhat stable. Do parents want to know if their kid is a narcissist? I have somewhe ..read more

Hey cluster b friends!! Dealing with a BPD-NPD relationship would love some npds to weigh in. I am 35f formerly borderline no longer meet criteria, emotions pretty much regulated, behavior is solid, now struggling with bouts of periodic madness Virginia Woolf style, but that’s a story for another sub and I am medicated and self aware. Interpersonally things are really good for me. Great family, great friends. EQ higher than my IQ. I have a new bf. I met him 3 years ago and knew he had npd within like 10 min of meeting him. We bonded. I had a conceptual model about npd I had developed while go ..read more

submitted by /u/Both_Lawyer_274 [visit reddit] [comments ..read more

I'm a diagnosed paranoid and informally diagnosed narcissist. I actually took the quiz offered by therapist on narcissism but intentionally filled in wrong info but looks like therapist realized it and said, "He has narcissistic traits". My narcissism mostly comes from my success and achievements. Out of which two most notable ones are : *looks, cognitive * Cognitive achievements I have many achievements related to brain. Such as starting programming at 12, trading at 14 and starting a fintech startup at 17. I believe that I have higher than average IQ and brain power. I never studied properl ..read more