Unmasking Narcissism: The Shocking Truth Behind Five Common Misconceptions

Ever wonder what it’s really like to live inside the head of someone diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD)? Spoiler alert: It’s not all about staring at mirrors or stealing the spotlight at parties. Jacob Skidmore—better known as The Nameless Narcissist online—throws a wrench into all those catchy clichés by dismantling five major myths about narcissism. This isn’t just another YouTube rant; it’s a candid dive into the messy trenches of a mental health condition that’s often misunderstood and sensationalized. If you thought narcissists just have big egos and maybe a few attitude problems, Jacob’s here to challenge that assumption with a mix of brutal honesty and surprising insights. Ready to rethink everything you thought you knew about NPD? Buckle up. LEARN MORE

A diagnosed narcissist who creates content to ‘destigmatize NPD’ has opened up about the ‘five myths about narcissism’.

NPD is a mental health condition which causes an increased sense of self-importance, a need for admiration, and a lack of empathy for others.

Jacob Skidmore – known online as The Nameless Narcissist – has revealed what it’s really like to live with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). The US-based influencer tells his 300,000 followers across social media why you’re probably not a narcissist, and the surprising thing you should do if you think your partner is one.

In a recent video, however, Jacob admits that he’s ‘never met a single person who hasn’t had at least one of these misconceptions about narcissism’.

Misconception #1

Jacob says the first misconception is ‘that narcissism or a narcissist is just a difficult personality type’.

Jacob Skidmore has shared what it’s like to live with NPD (Instagram/@thenamelessnarcissist)

“Well, it’s actually a diagnosable mental illness per the DSM-five associated with a very poor quality of life with depression, anxiety, suicide among other things,” he said in a video from last week.

Misconception #2

The content creator insists that this idea that ‘narcissists love themselves or have compassion for themselves or have high self esteem’ is totally not true.

“As somebody with narcissistic personality disorder, I can feel grandiose. I can feel like I’m better than everybody else, and it’s very fleeting, and I have to constantly try to get attention to maintain that or I fall into a pit of self hatred,” Jacob explained.

“The best way to sum it up is I hate myself and I’m horrible, but at least I’m better than everybody else.”

Misconception #3

Jacob is known online as The Nameless Narcissist (Instagram/@thenamelessnarcissist)

A third misconception that ‘annoys him personally’ is that narcissists are not aware that they’re narcissists.

“First of all, I’m diagnosed with it, so obviously you’re wrong,” he pointed out.

“But second of all, this comes from the fact that narcissistic personality disorder, like all personality disorders, is egocentric. That means the way that we view the world, the way that we think, the way that we behave, we personally don’t see issues with it.”

Misconception #4

“Number four is that Narcissistic Personality Disorder can’t be helped with therapy and it can’t be treated,” Jacob said.

“Now here’s the thing, narcissistic personality disorder is a chronic condition which means it is lifelong.

“However, has been proven time and time again to successfully put people with NPD in remission assuming that they’re willing to put the work in.”

Misconception #5

The fifth misconception is a ‘complicated’ one, Jacob admitted, as some people believe that there are ‘discrete types of narcissists’.

“Grandiose narcissism and vulnerable narcissism are sets of personality traits that do exist in varying degrees in people, but what they found and what clinicians have kind of hypothesised on for a long time is that past a certain point of having grandiosity, I think around the seventieth percentile, grandiose and vulnerable narcissism correlate very highly,” he said.

“This means that there’s not so much grandiose or vulnerable narcissists. There’s people who present more strongly grandiose features or present more strongly with vulnerable features. However, if you are a true narcissist, you’re going to have traits of both.”