User:Genevieve.josephs/sandbox

Genevieve's Paragraph: This paragraph is to be inserted after the paragraph titled "Pathophysiology" in the original article.

Neurological Factors

The anterior insular cortex (AIC) is a major structure in the brain responsible for empathy and has shown to be impaired in patients with NPD. Scans have shown a reduction in gray matter and less activation in the AIC, especially in the right hemisphere of the brain. Gray matter is the darker area of the brain and nervous system which contains neuronal cell bodies. The purpose of the neurons within gray matter is to "collect and modify information and capillary blood vessels that support this activity". Through brain imaging, the cerebral cortex were much thinner in those with NPD than those without. Brain imaging has also shown that the neural connections from the prefrontal cortex to the ventral striatum are less than those without NPD.

Alyssa's Paragraph: This paragraph is to be inserted after the paragraph titled "Signs and Symptoms" in the original article.

Psychological Factors

Individuals who are diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) often feel entitled and want to be in the “spot-light” when it comes to interacting with others. They believe themselves to be special, one of a kind, and superior[1]. Wanting perfectionism and success is a common trend in this disorder. They are motivated to be seen in a positive, admirable light and strive to win, to be praised, and to receive positive attention wherever they can find it. These individuals also tend to take advantage of the people they know by manipulating them into doing or saying what they desire for their own personal gain. A cause of Narcissistic Personality disorder can come from overly affectionate or judgmental parenting styles, and an individual growing up with either of these two parenting styles could cause them to cognitively learn how to cope by using Narcissistic tendencies.

Alexis' Paragraph: Insert this paragraph under the last paragraph of the of the "Associated Features" section.

Narcissistic personality disorder is a very rare and very hard personality disorder to cope with and treat as narcissism makes the patient very blunt, and refuse that anything is wrong with them. From the patient's perspective, everything is wrong with the individuals surrounding them, particularly the individual diagnosing them. The patient is left with a feeling of being victimized as a result. Patients reflecting narcissistic personality disorder demonstrate high amplitudes of self-love which can be a good thing but in this case can affect the way the client looks at everyone else as below them on the "social pyramid" with little to no empathy for their peers. The social pyramid has always been prevalent in this world and clients with NPD believe that they're at the top of that pyramid and everyone else is lesser than them. Clients with narcissistic personality disorder are shown to be very unaware of their own mental states, because they show such high levels of narcissism they are unaware of how their negative behaviors affect others around them. The patients lack of insight of other's emotions interferes with their ability to understand the impact of their own behaviors resulting in negative effects on personal relationships. Lack of empathy is one of the biggest traits of narcissistic personality disorder which can be caused by many different things as empathy is learned at a very young age. A lack of human interaction and loving relationships early in life can lead to this absence of empathy later in life, leading the patient to demonstrate problems with emotional recognition, meaning that they are unaware of other individuals emotions around them, which may be related to the development of narcissism in the patients behavior.

Madeline's Paragraph: This paragraph is to be placed in the third paragraph after the sentence "Therapy is difficult, because people with NPD usually do not consider their own issues as symptoms, despite mental distress".

Narcissism is significantly related to overall interpersonal distress. As such, a person with NPD may experience persistent strain on interpersonal relationships, as people with NPD tend to project antagonistic and controlling behaviors. However, a person with the narcissistic characteristic of being overly nurturing also finds hardship in interpersonal relationships because of their strong and intrusive approach to achieving intimacy or status. Therapy for pathological narcissism may prove to be difficult, as significant interpersonal impairments in patients with NPD require creativity and modification in order to adapt to the relational struggle.