Brain Fact Friday on ”Using Neuroscience to Understand the Narcissistic Brain”

“When I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the shame-based fear of being ordinary. I see the fear of never feeling extraordinary enough to be noticed, to be loveable, to belong, or to cultivate a sense of purpose.” Brené Brown. And when I look at narcissism through the vulnerability lens, I see the spirit in that person, desperately trying to be seen for their talents, skills and abilities, but something keeps this person’s spirit in the shadows and I wonder what that is. On today’s episode we will examine: ✔ Narcissism through the vulnerability lens ✔ What is narcissism and how is it diagnosed. ✔ What the narcissistic brain looks like. ✔ 3 STEPS to move you forward if you think you are a narcissist, if you live with one, or if you work with one.  Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast where we bridge the gap between theory and practice, with strategies, tools and ideas we can all use immediately, applied to the most current brain research to heighten productivity in our schools, sports environments and modern workplaces. I’m Andrea Samadi and launched this podcast to share how important an understanding of our brain is for our everyday life and results. For this week’s Brain Fact Friday, I want to look at something I saw this past week about the narcissistic brain. We hear this word so often these days, thrown around when describing someone who is self-centered, someone who is unlikeable when they exclaim, “That person is such a narcissist!” Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is “a condition where people have an inflated sense of self-importance and a deep-seated need for attention and admiration. Those living with NPD show a distinct lack of empathy for the feelings and needs of others.”[i] In writing this episode, I want to come from the “vulnerable” angle (like Brené Brown mentioned in her quote) and look at what we can learn about the brain of someone who meets at least 5 of the criteria for what we call narcissistic personality disorder.[ii] My goal with this episode is to help all of us to understand the “why” behind narcissism,  a personality disorder that is not difficult to miss when you either work with, or live with someone who shows even a few of the criteria that’s needed for a clinical diagnosis. American psychologist, and brain disorder specialist, Dr. Daniel Amen, from Amen Clinics, says that “6.2% of the American population has a narcissistic personality disorder” that often begins in early adulthood. What’s interesting, is that “Psychologically speaking, narcissism is a personality trait that every person possesses to some degree. Like any characteristic, it exists on a spectrum. We all fall somewhere along the narcissistic continuum” and a certain amount of self-centeredness is healthy.”[iii] While writing this episode, I remembered something sleep medicine physician, and sports psychiatrist Dr. Shane Creado from EP #72[iv] said to me when he analyzed my brain scan from Amen Clinics, and I went back to that episode #84[v] to look at what he saw. I remember he said something about my deep limbic system being the brightest part of my emotional brain and that he saw this area overactive in people who hold themselves to high standards. I wondered for a minute. Oh no, does this make me a narcissist? Curious, I sent him a text late last night to double check what he meant by that and he sent me a wonderful explanation this morning, affirming that narcissism is complex, and operates on a spectrum. He explained why we all need a certain amount of it, to be focused on our goals, or things that we want to achieve, which explained why he saw this area light up brightly with people who are perfectionists, like I tend to be with this podcast. When releasing content out to the world, I have to be careful of what I say, and how I say it, especially when I’m interviewing someone, and what I create goes into the world for anyone to watch, and will