A pattern of traits and behaviours which signify infatuation and obsession with one's self to exclusion of all others and egotistic and ruthless pursuit of one's gratification, dominance and ambition.

Narcissism is named after ancient Greek myth of Narcissus who was a handsome Greek youth who rejected desperate advances of nymph Echo.

In punishment of his cruelty, he was doomed to fall in love with his own reflection in a pool of water.

Unable to consummate his love, he pined away and changed into flower that bears his name to this very day.

WHAT IS NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder)?

The Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) has been recognized as a seperate mental health disorder in third edition of Diagnostic and Statistics Manual (DSM) in 1980. Its diagnostic criteria and their interpretation have undergone a major revision in DSM III-R (1987) and were substantially revamped in DSM IV in 1994. The European ICD-10 basically contains identical language.

An all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behaviour), need for admiration or adulation and lack of empathy, usually beginning by early adulthood and present in various contexts. Five (or more) of following criteria must be met:

(1) Feels grandiose and self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents to point of lying, demands to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)

(2) Is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequalled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passion

(3) Firmaly convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status people (or institutions)

(4) Requires excessive admiration, adulation, attention and affirmation - or, failing that, wishes to be feared and to be notorious (narcissistic supply).

(5) Feels entitled. Expects unreasonable or special and favourable priority treatment. Demands automatic and full compliance with his or her expectations

(6) Is "interpersonally exploitative", i.e., uses others to achieve his or her own ends

(7) Devoid of empathy. Is unable or unwilling to identify with or acknowledge feelings and needs of others

(8) Constantly envious of others or believes that they feel same about him or her

http://samvak.tripod.com/psychophysics.html

The fundament of our mind is mental map we create of our body ("Body Image", or "Body Map"). It is a detailed, psychic, rendition of our corporeal self, based on sensa (sensory input) and above all on proprioception and other kinaesthetic senses. It incorporates representations of other objects and results, at a higher level, in a "World Map" or "World Image". This World Map often does not react to actual changes in body itself (such as amputation - "phantom" phenomenon). It is also exclusionary of facts that contradict paradigm at basis of World Map.

This detailed and ever-changing (dynamic) map constitutes set of outer constraints and threshold conditions for brain's operations. The triple processes of interaction (endogenous and exogenous), integration (assimilation) and accommodation (see here "Psychophysics") - reconcile brain's "programmes" (sets of instructions) to these constraints and conditions. In other words, these are processes of solving dynamic, though always partial, equations. The set of all solutions to all these equations constitutes "Personal Narrative", or "Personality". Thus, "organic" and "mental" disorders (a dubious distinction at best) have many characteristics in common (confabulation, antisocial behaviour, emotional absence or flatness, indifference, psychotic episodes and so on).