If somebody you knew like a family member, partner or friend told you they had NPD would you still talk to them? Would it change how you feel about that person?

As someone with NPD I’m always worried about how having NPD would affect me socially. It’s so stigmatised and people are always talking about how dangerous people with cluster B personality disorders are. I’m dating this guy at the minute. I really love him but I’m worried about how he would feel if he found out about my NPD. Would he still want to see me after what you see online about NPD? Should I ever tell him? Should I just keep it secret?

As of now I’ve told nobody about my diagnosis other than a few people at job interviews. What I’m basically asking here is ‘How will NPD affect your social life?’.

  • Luci
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    11 days ago

    What’s a NPD???

  • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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    11 days ago

    The issue is behavior (which is the primary way most of that is diagnosed to begin with).

    Acknowledging the behavior and making a deliberate attempt to prevent/improve it is something I would see as a positive sign compared to the behavior without the same steps. Getting a diagnosis (and some type of therapy) is a good thing.

    If you consistently treat me badly, the label wouldn’t be why I left. If you make mistakes, but make the regular effort to be aware of them and improve, the label doesn’t matter either.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      11 days ago

      Finally, somebody understands. This is what I’ve been trying to get across to people. If somebody is being manipulative or abusive the problem is there behaviour not a diagnosis they were born with but our society is more preoccupied with pop psychology and demonising those with personality disorders.

      • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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        11 days ago

        So I’m not big on most of what passes for self improvement material (I think the self help genre is almost entirely trash), but anyone who makes a habit out of trying to make themself better is moving the right way.

    • conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works
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      11 days ago

      It’s worth noting that there will be people who hear the label and react badly, though.

      I would argue that the short term pain is worse than hiding it and being with someone who doesn’t know you and can’t understand you, but I can’t promise it won’t be a dealbreaker for someone you really don’t want it to be, either.

  • Vanth@reddthat.com
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    11 days ago

    Why the ever-loving eff would you talk about this during a job interview?

    Is this a recent diagnosis? You need to slow way down and educate yourself on the condition and your employment rights. And I don’t mean by asking people on internet forums. Get real resources recommended by the doctor who gave you the diagnosis.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      11 days ago

      I thought if they ask your medical history you’re supposed to give them a complete rundown. Recent appointments, diagnosis and medication everything now I know better

      • Zak@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        I don’t know where you live, but it is not normal for prospective employers to ask for your medical history most places, and is legally questionable if not outright banned under the anti-discrimination laws of many countries.

      • dingus@lemmy.world
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        11 days ago

        Curious what country you live in? In the US, your medical information is protected information and it’s generally illegal for employers to ask you information about it. I think certain fields have exemptions for this though… possibly the military?

      • Vanth@reddthat.com
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        10 days ago

        Some people need accommodations at work. Like a nursing parent needs space for pumping and a fridge to keep the milk. Accessible bathrooms for people with mobility issues. I work near someone who has an umbrella looking thing over her workstation because the fluorescent lights give her migraines. Some need time flexibility to address medical issues, or perhaps the medical issues of child or aging parent.

        All these would require having some sort of conversation with your employer. During a job interview is not the time to do it. You need to check with your country and local laws to know your employee rights. You want to ask for accommodations in such a way that doesn’t put you at risk of getting fired or never hired to begin with.

  • TootSweet@lemmy.world
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    11 days ago

    Cluster B personality disorders tend to be the sort of personality disorders that are obvious to those around you. (To anyone who has done any serious study on the topic of personality disorders, it’s likely those around you (at least the ones you’ve interacted at all sufficiently with) already know you have NPD. To those around you who haven’t, I’m sure they’ve still identified aspects of your behavior that are much different from how most people behave, and stumbling across the Wikipedia page for NPD is likely to bring you to mind.)

    I do say “tend to” on purpose. There is such a thing as a “covert presentation” of NPD that can be less obvious.

    I’ve done enough study on the topic that I know a bit about what the term “Narcissistic Personality Disorder” means. If someone I knew mentioned to me that they had an NPD diagnosis, I think just how that would affect my view of them would depend on a few things:

    I think if I hadn’t known them very long and there wasn’t any particular reason for them to bring it up, I’d likely see bringing up their NPD diagnosis as an attention-seeking behavior. (This would be true no matter what the diagnosis was. If someone I didn’t know well just lead with “I have histrionic PD” or “I’m autistic” without a specific good reason to be bringing it up (and I’m not saying that there aren’t cases where leading with a psychological diagnosis is appropriate), I’d similarly feel they were seeking attention. Of course with NPD, “attention seeking” is even one of the diagnostic criteria, and so there is a certain difference with seeking attention by airing your NPD diagnosis vs airing your schizoid PD (or whatever) diagnosis.) If I’m honest, OP, just interacting with you a couple of times on Lemmy, this is kindof the way I view you. That said, I don’t see your behavior on Lemmy as “bad” in any particular way. You’re getting some of your needs filled and also contributing to the community here by starting what I see as interesting and engaging conversations. But I do think a big part of why you’re writing so much about NPD is to get validation from strangers on the internet.

    If I had known them for a while and had already seen them exhibit a lot of narcissistic behavior, it would probably be a bit of a relief to hear them say they had an NPD diagnosis. I’d see them as more self-aware than I did before and that would increase my respect for them. I’d probably suspect their awareness of their condition means they may have a genuine interest in managing it and they may be in treatment. I’d suspect they probably knew a bit about the terminology. And if their behavior became unacceptable and I needed to ask them to tone it down, I might be able to break through their defenses to get them to actually listen to me by speaking to them about their behavior in terms more closely associated with PD theory. I’d also feel a bit honored to have been confided in.

    If I had known them for a while but the fact they had an NPD diagnosis took me by surprise, it would definitely make me reevaluate my view of NPD a bit. As I said above, covert NPD does exist but I’d be surprised I didn’t pick up on it myself even their presentation was covert.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      10 days ago

      “I’d likely see bringing up their NPD diagnosis as an attention-seeking behavior. (This would be true no matter what the diagnosis was. If someone I didn’t know well just lead with “I have histrionic PD” or “I’m autistic” without a specific good reason to be bringing it up”

      Well, obviously the things I talk about on the internet are different then irl. I would never bring it up to anyone in the real world. I don’t even talk about it that much on here outside of a few threads. I only made those threads so that people can hear a different view on the topic from someone who has it rather then sensationalist pop-psychology trash.

      I made this account so I can talk about things I couldn’t irl and this diagnosis would be one of the things as it has really played in me since I first had it.

  • snek_boi@lemmy.ml
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    10 days ago

    I hear how much this diagnosis weighs on you. You’re carrying around this knowledge that you have NPD, feeling caught between wanting genuine connections and worrying that being open about this could push people away. It’s a really difficult position to be in: wanting to be authentic with someone you love while facing all this stigma and misconceptions about personality disorders.

    You’re not just asking about a diagnosis; you’re asking about how to navigate relationships, how to be genuine with people you care about, and how to handle vulnerability. These are deeply human concerns that go way beyond any diagnostic label.

    I’ve know many people who initially saw their diagnoses as permanent labels that defined who they were. I get why: that’s how mental health has been presented to us for decades. We’re told these are distinct categories, clear boxes that people fit into. But here’s something fascinating that recent research has shown: When researchers studied over 3,700 people who shared the same diagnosis of major depression, they found over 1,000 different symptom patterns. More than half of the people had patterns so unique they appeared in less than 0.1% of the group.

    This isn’t just true for depression; it applies to most mental health diagnoses. The whole idea of these being clear, distinct categories is breaking down as we look more closely at the science. In fact, despite decades of searching, researchers haven’t found reliable biomarkers for these diagnoses. The DSM workgroup themselves concluded this (page 8 of the pdf here as well as page 18 of the pdf here).

    What does this mean for you? Well, it suggests that thinking of NPD as a fixed thing that defines you might not be the most helpful way to look at it. Instead of asking “Will people reject me because I have NPD?”, we might ask different questions: What patterns do you notice in your relationships? What kind of connections do you want to build? What helps you move toward those connections, and what gets in the way?

    You mentioned being worried about your current relationship, about whether your boyfriend would still want to be with you if he knew about the diagnosis. That’s a really understandable fear, especially given how personality disorders are often portrayed. But I wonder if we could look at this differently. Instead of thinking about “revealing NPD” as a single big disclosure, what if we thought about building authentic connections in a way that aligns with what matters to you?

    The real strength I see in your post isn’t related to any diagnosis, it’s that you care deeply about being genuine in your relationships. You’re wrestling with these questions because connection matters to you. That’s not a symptom; that’s a value. And it’s something you can move toward, step by step, in ways that feel right to you.

    I know I often reference ACT and process-based approaches, and some might see that as my go-to solution for everything. But this situation perfectly illustrates why these approaches can be so helpful. Rather than letting a diagnostic label define your path, you can focus on understanding your own patterns, knowing what matters to you, and building psychological flexibility to move toward the life you want.

    When you ask “How will NPD affect your social life?”, you’re asking a question that assumes the diagnosis drives everything. But what if we turned it around? What if instead we asked: What kind of social life do you want to build? What patterns help you move toward that? What patterns get in the way? These questions put you in the driver’s seat, not the diagnosis.

    This isn’t about denying challenges or pretending patterns don’t exist. It’s about seeing them as processes you can work with rather than permanent labels that define you. The science is increasingly showing us that this is not only more accurate, but more useful for creating change.

    You’re not your diagnosis. You’re a person trying to build meaningful connections while dealing with certain patterns of thinking and behaving. Those patterns can change. They might be stubborn sometimes, but they’re not set in stone. What matters is moving toward what’s important to you, one step at a time.

  • southsamurai@sh.itjust.works
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    11 days ago

    Did you recognize that you’re making it all about yourself?

    Truth?

    By the time someone got diagnosed with it, I would already be sick of the behavior, amd they wouldn’t be a part of my life. I’ve had to do it before

    That being said, if the people in your life haven’t noticed it enough to be sick of you, telling them your diagnosis is pointless. Work on yourself via therapy, and it’s all good.

    It’s also not something you need to mention in job interviews since there’s no accommodations needed.

    But that half-joke I started with? It’s only half a joke. If you go around telling everyone, you’re kinda doing it. Your diagnosis is something you work on in therapy and would only bring up if needed. It isn’t something that’s useful to anyone else. Now, if you’ve been having trouble in your social interactions, and a specific person is having difficulty dealing with you, saying that you’re aware of a problem and are working on it is a useful thing to them and you.

    In other words it isn’t something to be ashamed of and hide, it just isn’t something to broadcast without a reason.

  • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    What I see online? I spent the first twenty years of my life as a target of cluster-B abuse, trust me I know firsthand.

    My advice to all people in range is drop everything and fucking run. Things are replaceable. Jobs and friends are replaceable. Your wellbeing isn’t.

    It sucks, you didn’t choose it, it’s not fair - I totally get that, believe me. I have ADHD, it’s a bitch, and it can suck for the people around me.

    But the thing is, the fact that it’s not your fault doesn’t make you safe to be around. People can be a danger to others completely involuntarily, despite their greatest wish not to be. And yes, that’s completely fucking unfair.

    NPD and BPD are both driven by a great sucking vortex of need-for-validation that can never be filled, and that tortures people if left unfed. NPD is when the vortex demands power or status, BPD is when it demands extravagant emotional connection, but they’re the same basic model underneath. It’s as vicious and relentless as any drug addiction, it doesn’t go away, and it will eventually overpower any amount of good intent. When the monkey’s on their back, all bets are off and the nearest available victim will be preyed upon.

    I don’t think there’s a safe way to be in a relationship with that - though I suppose with extremely open communication and amazingly well-defined and enforced boundaries, it could be doable. But this is very much a case of informed consent - it would be supremely shitty not to let your partner know the deal.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      10 days ago

      So what would be your advice for someone with a cluster B personality disorder? Are we just supposed to be alone forever? Also, why do you even know what you experienced was “cluster-B abuse”? People just think that anyone they don’t like has ASPD, NPD or BPD or something. “Phil who was kind of rude to me the other day, he totally has a covert psychopathic narcissistic cluster B personality disorder. I should know I watched 5 hours of Psych2Go videos”

      • TheBananaKing@lemmy.world
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        9 days ago

        Like I said, people deserve to know what they’re signing up for, and there need to be well-established boundaries agreed to in advance. I wouldn’t recommend it personally, but different people may choose differently.

        And yeah - if someone just isn’t safe to be around, even for reasons they didn’t choose, don’t want and can’t change, then that’s correct, they shouldn’t be around people. Yes, that’s horribly unfair, but existence just sucks. If you have no moral qualms concealing that danger so you can keep exposing people to it in secret… then you’ve just proved my point.

        As for the absusers in my life, kindly go fuck yourself.

  • How would you feel if somebody you knew told you they had NPD?

    I usually know pretty quick without them telling me, and it doesn’t change how I feel/think about them- that’s based on their behavior, not their diagnoses

    Should I ever tell him?

    I would maybe bring it up in a joking/self-deprecating manner, because there’s a good chance he puts it together eventually if you’re together long enough. E.g., “my toxic trait is that despite being measurably worse than most people on most metrics, I’m still somehow better than everyone” (gotta be delivered right though).

    I joke about my narcissism with my family, partner, and clients

    Edit: one of the few places I wouldn’t tell someone is during a job interview

  • intensely_human@lemm.ee
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    10 days ago

    If it’s a person that I know then it wouldn’t affect my view of them at all, because I already know them.

    • DillyDaily@lemmy.world
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      This, if anything it might clarify a few confusing exchanges we’ve had in the past, and it will certainly help me be a better friend in the the future.

      If I already know you, I know you, I’m choosing to be friends with you because of how you treat me and how you treat others when we hang out together. If I had any problems with that, I wouldn’t be friends long enough to hear you tell me about your NPD diagnosis.

      Now that said, I’ve had friends tell me about a diagnosis and it shouldn’t change anything, but now that the diagnosis is out in the open they want it to change things and I can’t offer that to the friendship, such as compromising on my own boundaries (eg: I had a friend who after explaining their condition asked me to provide tone indicators for everything I say, but I have alexithymia so that was really difficult for me to do and I couldn’t adjust my behaviour to meet the new expectations of the friendship, so we faded out of each other’s lives, they told people I stopped being friends with them because of their anxiety disorder… No it’s because I couldn’t meet the changed expectations of the friendship, describing my emotions every minute is hard for me and I choose not to be friends with people who require me to do that for their comfort)

  • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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    11 days ago

    … other than a few people at job interviews.

    this hurt me a lot in the past so i learned not to share things like diagnosis until after the interviews.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      10 days ago

      Same here. I just thought that when they asked if there “was anything medical diagnosis they should know about” I didn’t really know what to say so I just gave them a complete rundown on my medical history. Recent appointments, jabs, diagnosis, medical history ect ect.

      • eldavi@lemmy.ml
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        8 days ago

        I’m not a lawyer; but I suspect that’s an illegal question if you’re in the United States

  • ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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    10 days ago

    Exactly how I feel about being aspd (sociopathic)

    I would judge them heavily in my head and pay very close attention to them to be aware of any attempts at manipulation or anything of the sort.

    I understand it’s a complex diagnosis and has many facets that aren’t inherently negative but ignoring the large parts that are inherently negative would be putting yourself in jeopardy.

    But as someone with a diagnosis with the same level of negative connotation I’d be more understanding but still wary.

    Not every narcissist is a monster just like not every sociopath is a monster despite the general opinion on the matter.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      10 days ago

      I agree with you. When I was first diagnosed I didn’t believe it because I thought it was the type of thing only serial killers had. I would look into it and I heard people would say about people with NPD so it was hard to think of myself as like that. Overtime I came to terms with my diagnosis and started to rethink my views of others with a similar diagnosis.

  • deegeese@sopuli.xyz
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    11 days ago

    Depends on how you frame it.

    “I’m a certified asshole and that’s why I’m trying to change.”

    or

    “I’m certified awesome and you should know any problems are really your fault.”

        • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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          9 days ago

          And you Dr. Kevin know it was a “narcissistic relationship” whatever that is, because? Do you have a PhD from the University of Google Search? You read a few trash articles like “How to spot a narcissist in your life😱😱😱” and now you think you can diagnose entire relationships! That’s quite something. I know doctors who can diagnose people but you can diagnose multiple people at the same time. Do me a favor and diagnose the relationship between you and your father oh wait, never mind.

  • LoudWaterHombre@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 days ago

    Honestly, don’t tell anyone except your partner. From what I’ve seen, revealing that kind of information often leads to more disadvantages than benefits. At best, people might not treat you any differently and won’t make assumptions about your behavior, motives, or credibility based on what they’ve read online. But realistically, you’re unlikely to gain any tangible advantages by sharing it. Keeping it to yourself gives you the most control over the situation.

    I’ve heard stories of people who genuinely try to be good, fair individuals—people who contribute positively to society and the communities around them. But when they’ve disclosed being on the NPD/BPD/ASPD spectrum (or something similar), they’ve often been met with skepticism or outright mistrust. Some get accused of being liars, manipulators, or “puppet masters” with sadistic intentions, as though their diagnosis defines their every action.

    I can only imagine how difficult that must be. You put so much effort into overcoming harmful behavioral patterns, making decisions that prioritize fairness and the well-being of everyone involved—not just yourself. And yet, even the people closest to you might turn around and act like they fully understand your diagnosis after skimming a few pop-psychology articles or watching a couple of sensationalized YouTube videos titled something like, “The Dangers of People with BPD/NPD/ASPD.” It’s infuriating when they then start framing you as selfish, dishonest, or manipulative—especially when, in reality, you’ve been actively keeping the balance in their favor simply because it felt like the right thing to do and you believed they deserved that kindness.

    That kind of response can really hurt.

    Just look at the other replies here—neurotypicals just aren’t ready for this kind of conversation.

    • I'm_All_NEET:3@lemmy.mlOP
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      10 days ago

      I’ve experienced this myself. No irl but on this Lemmy. I made a thread a few weeks ago asking “Why is NPD so stigmatized?”. I wanted to why cluster B personality disorders were treated so differently to other things like depression or autism and the responsive were what you just described here.