Narcissistic History

Uncovering the Origins of Narcissistic Personality Disorder
While the concept of narcissism dates back thousands of years, narcissistic personality disorder only became a recognized illness within the last 50 years. In order to better understand how psychologists and researchers view NPD, it is essential to take a closer look at how this personality disorder came to be.
Freud and Psychoanalytic View of Narcissism

Narcissistic personality disorder has its earliest roots in ancient Greek mythology. According to the myth, Narcissus was a handsome and proud young man. Upon seeing his reflection on the water for the first time, he became so enamored that he could not stop gazing at his own image. He remained at the water's edge until he eventually wasted to death.

The concept of excessive self-admiration has also been explored by various philosophers and thinkers throughout history. In the past, the idea was known as hubris, a state of extreme arrogance and haughtiness that often involves being out of touch with reality. It wasn't until fairly recently that the notion of narcissism as a disorder became a subject of scientific interest in the field of psychology.

During the early 1900s, the topic of narcissism started to attract interest in the growing school of thought known as psychoanalysis. Austrian psychoanalyst Otto Rank published one of the earliest descriptions of narcissism in 1911, in which he connected it to self-admiration and vanity.

In 1914, the famous Sigmund Freud published a paper titled On Narcissism: An Introduction. Freud suggested that narcissism is actually a normal part of the human psyche. He referred to this as primary narcissism, or the energy that that lies behind each person's survival instincts. In Freud's theory of personality, people are born without a basic sense of self. It is only through the experiences that occur during infancy and early childhood that people gain what is known as ego, or a sense of self. As children interact with the outside world, they begin to learn social norms and cultural expectations leading to the development of an ego idea, or a perfect image of oneself that the ego strives to attain.

Another important part of Freud's theory is the idea that this love of one's self could be transferred onto another person or object. By giving away love, Freud suggested that people experienced diminished primary narcissism, leaving them less able to nurture, protect and defend themselves. In order to replenish this capacity, he believed that receiving love and affection in return was vital.

Source: http://psychology.about.com/od/psychiatricdisorders/a/history-Of-narcissistic-personality-disorder.htm