What kind of person???

austin heart, BSN, RN · Jun 1, 2005

Could it be narcissists?

Here is a good web site on Narcissistic Personality Disorder

http://www.healthyplace.com/communities/personality_disorders/narcissism/narcissism_defined.html

z's playa · Jun 1, 2005

Hi,
I am not a Psych. nurse and it has been a long time since I took Psych in nursing school. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I need to know. What is the term used for a person who thinks "Me, Me, Me" Someone who dosen't care about anyone feelings but themselves, and is constantly thinking what is best for themselves no matter who they hurt. I have looked through some Psych books and can not pinpoint one specific term. Is there one term used for people like this? Any help would be appreciated in advance. And by the way, I admire anyone who does Psych nursing. It has to be trying at times. Thanks.

I'm not a psy nurse but looking back from my experience around these people...it may be a borderline personality disorder or anti social disorder. Hard to say.

Z

Sadie04 · Jun 1, 2005

Histrionic maybe? Though I'm not a psych nurse either.:stone

StuPer · Jun 2, 2005

Narcissistic Personality Disorder http://www.mentalhealth.com/dis/p20-pe07.html

ZZTopRN, BSN, RN · Jun 2, 2005

Hi,
I am not a Psych. nurse and it has been a long time since I took Psych in nursing school. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I need to know. What is the term used for a person who thinks "Me, Me, Me" Someone who dosen't care about anyone feelings but themselves, and is constantly thinking what is best for themselves no matter who they hurt. This person is not anti-social. I have looked through some Psych books and can not pinpoint one specific term. Is there one term used for people like this? Any help would be appreciated in advance. And by the way, I admire anyone who does Psych nursing. It has to be trying at times.

Sounds like classic borderline. We've had a couple on the unit. Very manipulating, trying to play staff against one another. As you said, only concerns for self, does not care about other people or their feelings.

letina · Jun 2, 2005

does a person who has these personality traits necessarily be deemed to have a psych disorder? I've met people throughout life who fit the description the OP is talking about and they ain't mentally ill! There are some very selfish people out there in this world

As I said, just a thought...........

CharlieRN · Jun 5, 2005

Personality traits do not equal a psych disorder. The distinction is usually how much difficulty the behavior generates for the patient. If it is ruining their life, then they most likely have a personality d/o. What you discribe does sound like one of the nastier personality disorders, Narcissistic, Anti social or hysteronic. It does not quite sound like borderline to me. Usually borderlines self injure in some way. Children are never diagnosed with personality d/o's.

I'm curious why you can be so sure that they are not anti social.

kadokin, ASN, RN · Jun 15, 2005

Personality traits do not equal a psych disorder. The distinction is usually how much difficulty the behavior generates for the patient. If it is ruining their life, then they most likely have a personality d/o. What you discribe does sound like one of the nastier personality disorders, Narcissistic, Anti social or hysteronic. It does not quite sound like borderline to me. Usually borderlines self injure in some way. Children are never diagnosed with personality d/o's.
I'm curious why you can be so sure that they ae not anti social.

Psych nurse, here

I would have to go w/narcissistic personality disorder, or just plain narcissist. I am also curious why you are sure it's not sociopathic. Does not sound like borderline personality disorder. But, don't have all the info. Sometimes people who suffer from borderline personality disorder can look like they suffer from narcissistic personality disorder to the untrained eye.

RickRN · Jun 20, 2005

Hi,
I am not a Psych. nurse and it has been a long time since I took Psych in nursing school. I was wondering if anyone could tell me what I need to know. What is the term used for a person who thinks "Me, Me, Me" Someone who dosen't care about anyone feelings but themselves, and is constantly thinking what is best for themselves no matter who they hurt. This person is not anti-social. I have looked through some Psych books and can not pinpoint one specific term. Is there one term used for people like this? Any help would be appreciated in advance. And by the way, I admire anyone who does Psych nursing. It has to be trying at times.

I don't know if there is enough info to make the labeling easy. Antisocial seems to fit right off the top. Mayby some more info would be helpful although coming up with the diagnosis is always so subjective in psych stuff. A person who is constantly worying about themselves without concern for how they affect the lives of others seems more antisocial than anything else by my thinking.

Thunderwolf, MSN, RN · Jun 29, 2005

I agree with RickRN...not enough info.

The Dramatic category of Axis II Personality Disorders all have a tendency towards narcissism to some lesser or greater degree...what you call the "Me, Me, Me". Consider that "the ice in the snow cone". The disorders themselves are sort of like the flavoring added into the mix. Cherry for the Narcissistic, Blue for the Borderline, Yellow for the Histrionic, and Green for the Antisocial. It depends upon how it is expressed (cranked up or watered down) All tend to mellow out with age except the Histrionic, which tends to get worse as the person ages.

Well said above that one needs to not confuse traits with disorders. We ALL have traits with these folks...ooooh, scarey. BUT, what makes a disorder a disorder is that the person becomes rigid in his/her way of perceiving and reacting to the world of stress which causes the person his/her difficulty. The key word here is rigid. The person is not flexible or adapting to the stressors around them, even though most every one else is coping much better. The person essentially becomes his/her worse source of stress due to poor, rigid coping. Like treating ALL stressors as if they are one type of nail and using one's hammer to pound every one of them....not very adaptive. The Antisocial may beat the heck out of the nail and smash the board to smithereens because it too got in the way. The Borderline may pound the nail, pry it back out, pound in the nail again, and pry it back out because of prolonged suffering it caused. The Histrionic just smacks the nail with such a flair that the head of the hammer flys off. And the Narcissistic not only likes to whack the nail but bend it also, then mashing it into the wood because of the satisfaction it brings. All are rigid in coping with stress...the hallmark of the personality disorder. So how is this different from trait? Hmmm, you see a nail. Do you need a nail? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe glue is more apporpriate. So you use glue instead. Hmmm...maybe a nail is needed. So you simply pound the one nail in and put the hammer down...no big deal. Move on to the next project. Personality disorders tend to see only nails in front of them and tend to go looking for them (to hammer) when stressed.

Hope the analogies helped.

032249m · Jul 18, 2005

I don't know if there is enough info to make the labeling easy. Antisocial seems to fit right off the top. Mayby some more info would be helpful although coming up with the diagnosis is always so subjective in psych stuff. A person who is constantly worying about themselves without concern for how they affect the lives of others seems more antisocial than anything else by my thinking.

Psych RN for 19 years,

Definitely a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. I have done extensive research on this subject - my ex-son-in-law is a Narcissistic. It is definitely a psychiatric diagnosis and is listed in the Diagnostic Manual as such. Obsessive/Compulsive Disorders are often paired with the Narcissistic and share many traits.