Narcissism: Psychological Theories and Therapeutic Interventions in the Narcissistic Disorders Understanding the Narcissistic Phenomenon The so called "narcissistic personality disorder" is a complex and often misunderstood disorder. The cardinal feature of the narcissistic personality is the grandiose sense of self importance, but paradoxically underneath this grandiosity the narcissist suffers from a chronically fragile low self esteem. The grandiosity of the narcissist, however, is often so pervasive that we tend to dehumanize him