According to the dictionary, a narcissist is a person who is overly self-involved, and often vain and selfish. Such people have an inflated sense of their own importance, a deep need for excessive attention and admiration. They have a hard time with relationships and a lack of empathy for others. But behind this mask of extreme confidence lies a fragile self-esteem that’s vulnerable to the slightest of criticism. I will take you to these 5 signs of detecting a narcissist around you.

1. They hog the conversation, they can go on and on talking about how great they are: According to a psychotherapist “Narcissists love to constantly talk about their own accomplishments and achievements with grandiose” They’re also too busy talking about themselves to listen to you.
2. Business insider quotes that narcissist thinks everybody else is stupid: Many narcissists are know-it-all’s and have a hard time getting along with co-workers and friends because they refuse to believe they could possibly be wrong about anything.
3. Narcissists lack empathy or the ability to feel how another person is feeling. This inability to empathize is often the reason why many of their relationships fail or collapse.
4. They always want to be in control. They can’t stand to be at the mercy of other people’s preferences. They control people through disapproving glances, calls to change plans and chronic lateness. By doing that, they maintain their sense of total autonomy which they so desperately need.
5. Narcissists often believe that their views are inherently superior to other people’s perspectives. But what they truly value is the attention they receive for holding those views. For eg. a narcissist might believe he has a closer connection to God — but it’s more important to him that other people acknowledge this connection and admire his deep sense of spirituality.

These were the 5 signs to detect a narcissist. Unfortunately, this is like a disease where the sufferer feels pretty good but the people around them suffer. This behavior is called a psychological disorder called Narcissist personality disorder. It affects 1-2% of the population more commonly men. It is also a diagnosis reserved for adults. Young people can be very self-centered but this might just be a normal part of their self-development.

It’s more like you receive a constructive feedback about your performance here at toastmaster but you instead told them that you were right and their feedback was wrong.

Now what to do about such people right? The best way is to set boundaries so that they don’t eat you up. Just protect yourself, the key is to make sure that their behavior is less harmful to you. I would just want to conclude on the note that we all should also work on keeping our own narcissistic tendencies in check by asking trusted colleagues and friends to let us know when we’re being too self-centered, ignoring their needs or making decisions based solely on how we feel.