Medication for Narcissistic Disorder

Narcissistic personality disorder is a personality disorder characterized by self-centeredness, a lack of empathy and an exaggerated sense of one's own importance. Sufferers tend to be manipulative and have a need for praise and admiration. Treatment usually consists of psychotherapy rather than medication.

Misconceptions

• According to the Mayo Clinic, there is no specific medication for narcissism. However, medication is often prescribed to treat depression and anxiety, from which many narcissists suffer.

Considerations

• Most narcissists tolerate discomfort poorly and will enter therapy not for narcissism itself but for unpleasant feelings directly caused by narcissistic tendencies and behaviors. These feelings are often generated by a crisis that punctures the narcissist's fantastic view of himself.

Treatment

• While in treatment, narcissists will often be prescribed antidepressants or anti-anxiety medications to treat these symptoms but not their cause, the narcissistic disorder itself.

Benefits

• Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medications help clear a psychological space for the narcissist to examine and correct his own narcissism through cognitive, group and family therapy.

Potential

• Therapy make take several years, with short-term goals centering on the treatment of substance abuse, low self-esteem or shame. Longer-term treatment will attempt to change patterns of thinking that distort the patient's self-image and to better relate to others.