ABSTRACT
While some people do express relief to be given an official diagnosis, feeling like there’s some clarity to what is happening with them, others feel deeply pathologized or turned off because their partner is being pathologized. Most therapists would describe narcissism and borderline personality disorders as the two most common and challenging types of personality disorders they work with. The author believes it’s because both types of disorders come with a lot of reactive behavior that tends to push people away, and most people do not understand the behavior. When a person experiences trauma and they do not have a secure attachment figure to help them cope, soothe, or organize reality around the events that happened, they are more likely to be traumatically affected and less likely to adjust and recover in a healthy and secure way. The term narcissism originated from Greek mythology, specifically story of Narcissus, who is said to have fallen in love with his own reflection.
