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Current Psychiatry Reports
Published in: Current Psychiatry Reports 1/2010

01-02-2010

Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A Current Review

Author: Elsa Ronningstam

Published in: Current Psychiatry Reports | Issue 1/2010

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Abstract

The diagnosis of narcissistic personality disorder in the DSM-IV has been criticized foremost for its limitations in capturing the range and complexity of narcissistic pathology. The attention to the narcissistic individual’s external, symptomatic, or social interpersonal patterns—at the expense of his or her internal complexity and individual suffering—has also added to the diagnosis’ low clinical utility and limited guidance for treatment. Recent studies and reviews have pointed to the need for change in the diagnostic approach to and formulation of narcissism. This review focuses specifically on studies of features that add to the identification, understanding, and treatment of patients with pathological narcissistic functioning and narcissistic personality disorder. They have been integrated into a regulatory model that includes the functions and fluctuations of internal control, self-esteem, perfectionism with accompanying self-criticism, shame, and empathic ability and functioning.
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Metadata
Title
Narcissistic Personality Disorder: A Current Review
Author
Elsa Ronningstam
Publication date
01-02-2010
Publisher
Current Science Inc.
Published in
Current Psychiatry Reports / Issue 1/2010
Print ISSN: 1523-3812
Electronic ISSN: 1535-1645
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-009-0084-z

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