Narcissism

What: Narcissism, which used to just mean being super-vain and even came with a charming story about a Greek hunter, is now much more sinister and means a serious personality disorder involving extreme selfishness, grandiose self-image, a craving for admiration and profound self-centredness.

Why: Because it’s an evolving situation, with increasing recognition of this as a disorder (belonging to the Cluster B group, along with socipathy) and not just a sneery label. Increasing numbers of the US population are now thought to suffer from narcissism, which brings with it various destructive and socially undesirable behaviours.

Why Now: A couple of reasons. Partly because we are, apparently thanks to social media, now living in the Age of Narcissism, but also because it’s a word that is suddenly being bandied around an awful lot. Just as there was a whole heap of amateur diagnosing of people as being ‘on the spectrum’ a decade ago, now it’s all about who’s ‘a narcissist,’ with almost everyone in the public eye apparently guilty. How: That’s the question, really. Are narcissists born, or made? The answer, it seems, is made. Negative early experiences with primary caregivers, but also excessive parental praise, both lead to a faulty self-image and inability to situate oneself appropriately in the world.

Who: Increasingly, the young people — Generation Snowflake. Men (more likely than women); prisoners (25pc of the prison population, as opposed to 1pc of the normal population) and CEOs (also running at 25pc); dictators; surgeons; anyone in media; Donald Trump. Emily Hourican