Mental health experts have found that some key features of bipolar disorder and narcissism overlap. These include setting high, sometimes unattainable, goals and being very impulsive. As a result, people with bipolar disorder often also have narcissistic personality disorder.
Narcissism is not a symptom of bipolar disorder, and most people with bipolar disorder do not have narcissistic personality disorder. However, the two health issues do share some symptoms. In this article, we look at the relationship between bipolar disorder and narcissism, including their symptoms and treatments.
People with bipolar may be exhibiting heightened social activity during a manic or hypomanic state, while those with narcissism may be looking to exploit or manipulate others.
Manipulation isn't a formal symptom of bipolar disorder, although some people with the condition may exhibit this behavior. In some cases, manipulative behavior is a result of living with another mental health condition, such as personality disorders, substance use disorders, or trauma.
Narcissistic personality disorder is a mental health condition in which people have an unreasonably high sense of their own importance. They need and seek too much attention and want people to admire them. People with this disorder may lack the ability to understand or care about the feelings of others.
Here are some narcissism red flags to look out for: Lacking empathy. They seem unable or unwilling to have empathy for others, and they appear to have no desire for emotional intimacy. Unrealistic sense of entitlement.
There isn't any clinical evidence that links bipolar disorder with lying, though some anecdotal accounts suggest there may be a connection. It's thought that some people with bipolar disorder may lie as a result of: racing thoughts and rapid speech. memory lapses.
Bipolar disorder is characterized by frequent mood cycles, fluxing between mania and depression. While anger isn't always present, people with this frustrating condition may find they quickly experience angry outbursts when they feel agitated, irritated, or annoyed.
One of the worst side effects of bipolar disorder is the repetitive cycle of self-sabotage. But you can manage this symptom by mapping out your goals.
We found that bipolar patients present higher levels of novelty seeking, harm avoidance and self-transcendence and lower levels of self-directedness and cooperativeness than healthy individuals. In bipolar patients, self-directedness decreased as the depression severity increased.
Bipolar disorder can be confused with other conditions, such as depression, schizophrenia, BPD, anxiety, and ADHD. Detecting and diagnosing bipolar disorder may take some time. But getting a correct, early diagnosis often results in better outcomes.
Narcissists may show you love and act in loving ways, but this tends to be conditional, in that displays of love depend on what you can give them in return. For people with NPD, relationships tend to be transactional. Love is not self-serving, proud, boastful, exploitative, or envious.
Both bipolar manic and depressed groups used the defense mechanism of denial, borderline level defenses and immature defenses significantly more than the unipolar depression group. The manic group showed greater dependence on narcissistic level defenses as compared to the other two groups.
Mania in particular tends to trigger aggressive emotions and anger. The racing thoughts and high energy levels you experience can leave you feeling angry, irritable, and frustrated. Those angry emotions, in turn, can cause aggressive and inappropriate behaviors.
Bipolar Triggers and Warning Signs
Bipolar disorder features extreme shifts in mood that are unpredictable and often disruptive to daily functioning. Changes in sleep patterns, eating habits, emotions, and behaviors accompany the mood swings.
The manic episodes associated with Bipolar may not be obvious. They can be mistaken for other behaviours such as those commonly found with ADHD (rapid speech, inability to concentrate) because the person may not have had a manic episode until later in life.
People with bipolar disorder experience periods of unusually intense emotion, changes in sleep patterns and activity levels, and unusual behaviors. These distinct periods are called “mood episodes.” Mood episodes are drastically different from the moods and behaviors that are typical for the person.
Narcissists tend to display exaggerated body language and facial expressions. The 1990 study on conversational narcissism also found that narcissists tend to be overly dramatic in their hand gestures and facial expressions. They may also speak in a loud tone of voice.
Toxic People, for the Most Part, Are Narcissists
Narcissists have absolutely no concerns outside of their own needs and desires. They don't care about the people around them as much as they care about themselves.
Examples of narcissistic rage range from intense outbursts and sudden fits of anger, to passive-aggressive acts such as simmering resentment, icy silence, deliberate neglect, or cutting sarcasm.