Male narcissist reveals the one thing people get wrong about those with disorder

Narcissists are often depicted as people who have inflated self-importance and little regard for the feelings of others.

But did you know they can also experience self-hatred and shame?

According to a content creator who's built an online platform explaining what it's like to live with Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD), this is exactly the case.

Known online as the 'Nameless Narcissist', Jacob Skidmore is a US-based creator who's spoken openly about his life with NPD, as well as ways to spot a narcissist and signs that you're not one.

Skidmore is also keen on busting common misconceptions around the disorder, which includes explaining that people with NPD don't love themselves as much as some people may think.

"Narcissists don't love themselves," he told students at Northwestern University during an online talk back in 2023. "They just occasionally think they're better than everybody else, depending on their mood."

(Youtube/@The Nameless Narcissist)

"There's a lot of self-hatred that goes with narcissism," Skidmore continued, adding: "There's not much positive self-regard."

This wasn't the only misconception which Skidmore was keen to highlight either, as he also explained that people with NPD aren't actively trying to hurt as many people as possible.

"The most common thing I always want to point out is that narcissists aren't out there trying to be like, 'Oh, I want to take advantage of all these people... I'm hunting people and I want to abuse them'," he explained.

"They aren't inherently malicious people, they're mentally ill and struggle to operate in the world in a way that is constructed around them."

What are the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder?

According to Psychology Today, the most common signs which a person are grandiosity, entitlement, a lack of empathy when it comes to the feelings of others and a need for admiration.

Statistics on the number of people who suffer from NPD are limited, but it's believed that around 0 to 6.2 percent of people may have the disorder.

However, this does not mean that everyone who exhibits selfish or arrogant behaviour towards others is necessarily a narcissist, as some people can have narcissistic traits without meeting the clinical threshold to be diagnosed with the disorder.

"The misconceptions on narcissism run very deep in modern society right now," Skidmore added.

"I think a lot of people can acknowledge that the stigma around it has become more or less a business model of being able to sensationalise narcissism and the negative impacts on society.

"I'm not to say that there are no negative impacts that a narcissist can have on society or their personal relationships, but the way that it's described is not very accurate."