This is an important subject matter. Thank you for your opinions.

There is value in identifying someone with a particular disorder, of course, even if the disorder is only defined by a constellation of traits.

NPD, as you have observed, has been casually used by armchair therapists (lay persons) to vilify people they feel have wronged them. Many or most of the people so identified do not fit the diagnostic criteria. The result is that the disorder has been broadened to the point of absurdity.

Many people have only one or two of the diagnostic traits and yet are labeled as Narcissistic by nonprofessionals. An entire industry seems to have arisen of therapists purporting to specialize in treating people who have been the subject of Narcissistic abuse. But people are the subject of abuse, ridicule and poor treatment by far more people who do not have NPD.

The misdiagnosis is unfortunate as it stigmatizes people who certainly do NOT meet the requisite diagnostic criteria. It is redolent of the red baiting 50s where left-leaning citizens were branded as communists.

The personality disorders certainly need to be more refined and vetted in future revisions of the DSM. And we may very well discover, in the future, biological markers that can be used to diagnose these conditions more particularly. Right now, however, we have to use what we have. We have to carefully examine patients to see if they meet the code and then figure out how to treat them.

There is, therefore, value in an accurate diagnosis. There is, on the other hand, negative value in generalizing the condition to include people who are noxious to others but for other reasons.

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Sometimes people are just A….holes.

Thank you for raising the awareness of the issue.