Narcissist, Addiction, Or Bipolar Disorder?

Photo By Pooja Roy

There are many similarities and differences between narcissistic personality disorder, addictions, and bipolar disorder. As a therapist, I would classify all of these disorders as “family conditions” meaning that relatives and close friends struggle and suffer emotionally due to the mental health disorder of their loved one in a significant way. It is often more common to see the wives, husbands, children and close friends in therapy learning how to cope than the individual with one of the above diagnoses. There is also a lot of overlap in symptoms in the three disorders but there are many differences. When you are confused, surprised, or hurt by your loved one’s behaviour, wanting to identify the problem and know the “why” can be consuming.

Why do you engage in such detective work and scholarly research? Well….then you feel like you are doing something, have some control, and that you can help or fix the problem. Remember Lovely, we are all responsible for healing our own wounds and fixing our own problems. You cannot do this for someone else. Sometimes when you try you enable, placate, and lose yourself. I always direct clients to focus on the “whys” of their own behaviour as I feel that is a better use of time than to pour your energy into diagnostic detective work regarding the mental health conditions of someone else. Let us now discuss another good use of your…