These are the nine symptoms needed to diagnose narcissistic personality disorder. The person has to show five out of nine. Number one, a grandiose sense of self-importance. Narcissists think that they are the best, the smartest, the prettiest, the most successful. They just think that they’re better than everybody. And they expect people to treat them like they are gods and goddesses on this earth. Number two, they have a preoccupation with delusions of unlimited success, unlimited power, unlimited beauty, brilliance, or an ideal love. This is why they put you on a pedestal during the love bombing phase and expect you to swoop in, save them from all their messed up problems in themselves without ever even knowing the true you. They also think in hierarchies and so this is why they see some people as better than others. Somebody in a higher up position at work somehow has more worth as a person than somebody who’s unemployed for example. They have an excessive need for admiration and outward validation. Narcissists are completely empty shells of people. Their entire self-esteem relies on external validation from supply and people around them. They have a lack of empathy. They are not capable of carrying about the feelings of others or putting themselves into other people’s shoes no matter how much they claim that they love that person. This is why they cannot be apologetic when they hurt you. This is why they can justify any of their actions no matter how atrocious they are. They have a gross sense of entitlement. They immediately feel entitled to all the success, all the money, all your time, all your energy without ever putting in the work to get any of that. They expect things to be handed to them. They expect everybody to give them 100% of their time and energy while they are giving 0% effort. They are extremely envious of other people and they’re under the belief that everybody is envious of them. This is oftentimes to the point of being paranoid. They will envy any sort of attention that you’re getting for something that has nothing to do with them. A demonstration of arrogant behavior. Narcissists cannot help but brag about themselves to a level that makes people who meet them rather uncomfortable. They seem to be all about themselves and their accomplishments. They will totally undermine any accomplishment you try to talk about and they will talk about themselves for hours without asking you a single question about yourself. You feel like you’re in a sales pitch for something you never signed up to buy. With all these factors in mind, they cannot form intimate connections and they’re terrible romantic partners.