Argumentative Essay
"Narcissism Epidemic"
by Carolyn Brown
In today's world, you would have never guessed how many narcissists exist all around you. Even you, at one time, have probably more than likely acted like a narcissist. With today’s technology, we are living in a self-obsessed era. Narcissism, diagnosed or undiagnosed, is a personality trait characterized by a high level of entitlement, delusional and inflated self-views, and a general disregard for the interests, feelings, and well-being of others (Chamorro-Premuzic,2023). You more than likely have someone close to you who has narcissistic personality traits or has been subject to mental abuse from someone's narcissistic ways. A person who has these traits will have problems with relationships throughout life. “Relationships with narcissists tend to deteriorate over time because of their toxic behavior”,
(Counselingcenteratcincoranch, 2022). Narcissism has been on the rise in the United States now more than ever before since social media and smartphones. “Social psychologist reports a steady increase in narcissism among college students”, (Barber, 2024).
With social media and smartphones “Narcissism is increasing in modern Western societies, and this has been referred to as a “narcissism epidemic”. The endorsement rate for the statement “I am an important person” has increased from 12% in 1963 to 70-80% in 1992 in adolescents (Vater et al., 2018). If we were to run these numbers again today, you would see a huge rise in individuals with narcissism. So, what do we do about it and how do we find a solution to help this epidemic and is there a cure to narcissism behavior? Well over time we hope that there will be more awareness of one's behavior and hope to find a solution to the increasing “epidemic”.
There are several therapy options to improve Narcissism such as talk therapy, also called Psychotherapy. Through one-on-one sessions, you’ll explore the reasons behind your feelings and behavior (Pietrangelo & Sharon, 2023). This therapy will involve helping a person overcome resistance to therapy and identify narcissistic behaviors that are causing the problem and where they have originated from. This type of therapy will help you acknowledge how your behavior has affected other people around you, replace grandiose thoughts with realistic ones, and see the benefits of how it has helped you. Most narcissistic individuals will become very defensive thinking that they do not have a problem that the other person is the problem of the relationship. Psychotherapy will only work as much as the person puts into it. By accepting responsibility and learning from your actions from others will help improve healthy relationships with friends, family, and spouses.
There are no medicines specially used to treat narcissistic personality disorder (Narcissistic personality disorder, 2023). Some medications can still offer some benefits if the person is having some other mental health condition. But if you are suffering from narcissistic personality traits you can learn to use coping mechanisms and get help from a mental health professional. Another solution to treatment for narcissistic personality disorder is Metacognitive interpersonal therapy. This approach will help address narcissistic defenses in two different phases recognizing the problem and promoting change (Raypole, 2021).
Also, by making time for exercise or meditation you can help by making changes by be able to understand themselves and others and work on the underlining cause. Over the years many people have discovered the health benefits by meditation “Since 2012, the number of people practicing meditation has tripled”, (Zuckerman, 2021). Meditation and exercise are also known for reducing stress, anxiety and depression, a complication of narcissistic personality disorder (Narcissistic personality disorder 2023). By doing this it will help with stress in your life that might be contributing to narcissistic behavior and improve relationships with others.
To help with this narcissism “Epidemic, "we will need to cut out more of social media and start spending more time with family and limit technology. Today’s generation is all about social media, and if you look at your phone it will show the amount of time that you are spending on social media, you would be surprised at how many hours a day people today are doing this. Narcissism has become an epidemic and it is our job to stop it from passing down to the next generation by leading by example. By getting the help you need and having a great supoort person or group in your life will also help you stay on track to receiving treatment .There is no cure for narcissism personality disorder but there are many ways to change and set goals for improving relationships and decreasing narcissism epidemic by monitoring and decreasing the time we have spent on social media and not making everything about yourself. By doing this and the more we become aware of narcissistic behavior, you will see a decrease in the epidemic created by social media.