No informative resource about narcissistic personality disorder is complete without information that enables you to make informed judgments about the credibility of what you read and hear about it. Otherwise you will quickly get lost in a maze of myths, pure guessing, and conflicting assertions, not knowing whom or what to believe.
For many, this information will be a surprise, so this chapter cites references to document this warning that you cannot believe everything you read about NPD. Even when written by an authority with a P, H, and D after his or her name.
And, yes, though I assure you that I am honest, you have no way of knowing that. So don't assume it. Just as you don't close your eyes and let others put stuff in your mouth, don't close your eyes and let others put stuff in your head.
Some authorities are mere parrots, who never use their own heads. Some couldn't care less whether they are right or wrong: they just want your money. Others have political and social agendas: they know they are wrong and are deceiving you. For your own good, of course, because us common folk don't know what's good for us. So, they manipulate our perceptions to manipulate us toward their vision of Utopia (where we just trust them to do our thinking and make our decisions for us).
So, take everything with a grain of salt. Check out the cited references below, and think for yourself when weighing the evidence.
If there is a malignant narcissist in your life, you have much knowledge about NPD gotten through first-hand observation of a narcissist's (often strange) behavior. That is not nothing. Those observations are facts. Provided you aren't trying to deceive yourself, that kind of knowledge is the soundest kind. It's far more reliable than the speculations of people sitting in their ivory towers reading the speculations of others and theorizing about the disease.
Therefore, if something an authority claims doesn't seem to make sense, it probably doesn't. Stop and examine it before swallowing. Again, if something an authority claims doesn't square with your own observations, a healthy dose of skepticism is in order.
Below you will find much evidence undermining the credibility of the mental health profession. Keep in mind, however, that if I had been looking for evidence of credibility, I could have found it. The point is NOT that they are all quacks and pseudoscientists. In fact, you will see that the strongest critics of this crowd come from among their own ranks. So, there is good science going on, and there are therapists who get it about NPD and psychopathy. Unfortunately, they are the politically incorrect minority and are not the ones in the positions of power.
Nonetheless, it seems to me that they are slowly but surely winning.
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