“Narcissists are said to be in love with themselves. But this is a fallacy. Narcissus is not in love with himself. He is in love with his reflection. There is a major difference between one's True Self and reflected-self.” 
― Vaknin 

MISCONCEPTIONS OF narcissism 

• DEBUNKING POPULAR FALLACIES 

• UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NARCISSISTS AND PSYCHOPATHS

• UNDERSTANDING THEIR DIRE FEAR OF CRITICISM AND INTIMACY

• BEING IN LOVE WITH THE SELF VERSUS THE IMAGE/REFLECTION OF ONESELF

• PARADOX OF THE FRAGILITY IN GRANDIOSITY

• THE USE OF SHAME AND HUMILIATION

• NARCISSIST AS CULT LEADER AND PREDATOR

• WHY THEY CANNOT HAVE ANYONE ON SAME LEVEL 

• CONTROL ISSUESAND HIDDEN FEARS

Given our current “epidemic” of narcissism, it is very likely that you may know or have heard of someone who manifests some of these traits.

Greed, grandiosity, inflation and isolation are just some of the features of narcissism. Others are: “an absence of empathy,… a need for being admired by others throughout adulthood. … a sense of superiority, viewing themselves as better than others; look[ing] at others with a sense of disdain and perceiv[ing] others as inferior [to] themselves; … see[ing] themselves as unique and overly important and often exaggerate[ing] their achievements,… [being] unmoved by others’ suffering…. hav[ing] difficulty seeing how their actions can harm others or how someone might feel in a particular situation.

From the  Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the DSM-5 lists 9 characteristics an individual might have, with a minimum of five being required to assign that diagnosis.

These 9 are:

Grandiosity: being affected or pompous; pretentious; inflated

Fantasies of unlimited power and success: these often result in the narcissist attaining a position of leadership, e.g. Napoleon,with eventual destructive consequences, since all life on the physical plane has limits

Seeing oneself as ‘special’ and associating only with others of high status, e.g. filling a cabinet with CEOs of major corporations and military generals

Needing admiration, as in rallies and public appearances before thousands of fans.

Having a sense of entitlement, e.g. operating under the assumption that one is deserving of only the best, the choicest, the rarest, regardless of others’ needs or preferences

Being interpersonally exploitative, e.g. using people to get what he/she wants, with little thought to reciprocity or the others’ needs

Lacking in empathy, i.e. the inability to feel concern, compassion or caring for others and what might be going on in their lives; the narcissist often feels free to “fire” people with impunity

Envying others, i.e. “feeling discontent or ill will at another’s good fortune…; dislike for a person who has what one wants”

Appearing arrogant, i.e. inflated, puffed up, full of oneself

*From the Jungiancenter.org

“Often the narcissist believes that other people are "faking it", leveraging emotional displays to achieve a goal. He is convinced that their ostensible "feelings" are grounded in ulterior, non-emotional motives. Faced with other people's genuine emotions, the narcissist becomes suspicious and embarrassed. He feels compelled to avoid emotion-tinged situations, or worse, experiences surges of almost uncontrollable aggression in the presence of expressed sentiments. They remind him how imperfect he is and how poorly equipped.”