What Is The Life Expectancy Of A Narcissist? (Do They Live A Short Life?)
What is the Life Expectancy of a Narcissist? Do they live a short Life? A narcissistic personality disorder affects people in different ways. But one thing is certain which is in most cases narcissism is caused by psychological trauma during the early childhood stage. And all the trauma, agony, and distress is thus carried down by the narcissists throughout their life span. So does this trauma affects a narcissist’s life span? Let us find out further in this article.
Do Narcissists often die early?
Narcissists often carry psychological trauma throughout their life. This trauma can have various consequences at different stages of life. During childhood the trauma may feel stressful, during adulthood it may turn into chronic anxiety, stress, and pain, and finally, in old age, these psychological issues may force them to stay alone resulting in isolation. So when a person carries so many psychological issues it may result in various consequences, early death being one of the major consequences.
For narcissists anxiety and stress are common issues in everyday life as they are always worried about their grandiose image, their social status, and image, the fear of their true selves being exposed, the stress of losing their narcissistic supply, childhood trauma, relationship issues, work performance, the desire to always be the best among all, and many more. Such psychological issues may lead to many more consequences including chronic anxiety and stress, physiological health issues, and physical health issues; that may eventually lead to various repercussions which later become a major reason for early death.
What are the health implications of chronic stress, anxiety, and narcissism for an individual?
Let us know some consequences which come along with chronic stress, anxiety, tension, and worries along with narcissism. For narcissists, these can be a major setback or a major issue as they constantly live with anxiety, worry, fear, and depression.
- Difficulty sleeping which may lead to insomnia, and sometimes leading to death.
- Lack of sleep can lead to a lack of concentration which then leads to decreased work performance and can also cause tension leading to various psychological and financial issues. Narcissists are unable to bear the fact that their work performance is inferior as compared to others, which may result in them overworking, neglecting their health, and leading to various health issues, which again can be attributed to early death.
- Stress and anxiety can cause impaired social functioning as it may lead to avoidance of social situations or interactions altogether.
- Stress and anxiety may make a person vulnerable to increased risks of substance abuse or addictions like drug addiction, intoxicants like alcohol, and many more such unnecessary and adverse habits. Such a negative lifestyle may lead to many chronic diseases, poor maintenance of relationships, and an unfulfilling life. In short, increasing stress and anxiety can lead to an increased risk of addiction as a coping mechanism. Ultimately, these all things can result in a lifelong illness, or early death as a consequence in many cases.
- Chronic stress and anxiety can lead to elevated blood pressure and heart rate leading to cardiovascular diseases.
- Increasing stress and anxiety may accelerate the aging process, which again becomes a big problem for narcissists as they feel that with age they lose their charm, charisma, and good looks, which can lead them to be overprotective of themselves thus forbidding them from enjoying life to the fullest. Accelerated aging may give them more tension and worries and thus leading to depression. A depressed state of mind may decrease the life span of a person as suggested by mental health experts.
Do Narcissists Live a Short Life?
Narcissists might have a shorter span of life as compared to normal people, but to prove this prove there is a logical explanation. Viewing this statement from a logical point of view, this may seem true. Narcissists have a declining mental health condition which even worsens with age. Such a mental health condition does impair a narcissist’s body and mind. There can be no visible or appended benefits of suffering through a mental disability.
Narcissists’ behavior patterns, such as taking risks and disregarding their own health, can potentially lead to health problems and negative consequences that may impact their longevity. Additionally, narcissists may struggle to maintain healthy relationships and social support networks, which could impact their overall well-being.
Narcissism can lead to problems in relationships, difficulties at work, feelings of isolation or loneliness, and deep-rooted feelings of resentment, rage, and anger. People with narcissism may also experience depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. They might also have to face many mental health issues which may deteriorate their physical and mental well-being. Narcissism often leads to a lack of empathy for others, which can make it difficult to form and maintain healthy relationships. In a few extreme cases, narcissism may also lead to psychopathy or sociopathy.
Consequences of Narcissism
Narcissism may lead to a few consequences, which include deteriorating mental health and a toll on mental health too. Narcissism is a personality disorder that is characterized by a grandiose sense of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy toward others. The consequences of narcissism include,
- Difficulty maintaining close relationships – Narcissists may have a tendency to use people for their own gain and have a hard time sustaining harmonious relationships. This may lead to isolation in the long run, thus making their life tough, as narcissists need their dose of narcissistic supply and validation from others. This can take a toll on the narcissist’s mental health which destruct their, mental health and thus may decrease their longevity.
- Mental Health Problems – Narcissistic Personality Disorder is associated with anxiety, depression, and substance abuse disorders. Such mental health issues may be a hindrance to a long and healthy life.
- Strained family relationships – Narcissistic parents often exhibit poor parenting skills, have poor health behavior and their general state of mind is stressful. Thus this may lead to poor mental conditions for their children and lifelong psychological trauma for them.
- Shorter Life Span than an Average non-narcissistic Person– A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that narcissism might lead to loneliness along with high rates of anxiety and depression. It also suggests that narcissism has a lifetime-long prevalence. A lifelong prevalence means a life filled with loneliness, depression, and anxiety, and moreover all these lead to deteriorating mental and physical health. So when mental health and physical health are put in jeopardy, it becomes obvious that a person might have a shorter life span than an average non-narcissistic person.
- Financial problems – Narcissists are prone to making poor decisions and sometimes they make poor decisions while dealing with finances as they make some unnecessary expenses just to show -off how well set they are or how wealthy they are just to make them look posh or to prove a point. The financial struggle thus results in hypertension which can also result in cardiovascular diseases, which may reduce life expectancy.
- Impaired performance at work – Narcissists may have difficulty working collaboratively and giving credit to others, leading to tensions with colleagues and in some cases termination or demotion. This may also put the narcissists in situations where a lot of stress build-up can take place deteriorating their mental and physical health.
Ultimately the effects of narcissism can lead to a diminished quality of life and even shorter life span. Thus seeking help from professionals for a personality disorder becomes important and also helps in mitigating the negative impacts of such disorders.
What is the Life Expectancy of a Narcissist?
Even though all these factors may lead to a deterioration of mental and physical health, still it cannot be determined for sure that narcissists have a shorter life span. These above-mentioned reasons might play a role in determining a narcissist’s mental and physical health, still, this does not prove that narcissists have a shorter life span as compared to other non-narcissistic people.
It would also be insensitive and inappropriate to speculate on someone’s life span or longevity just based on their personality traits or a disorder. Narcissism is a personality disorder that affects people in different ways and there is no specific life expectancy or medical outcome associated with this condition. It is also important to note here that seeking professional help and receiving appropriate treatment can help individuals with narcissistic personality disorder lead fulfilling lives.
But then the question arises, “Will narcissists acknowledge their narcissism and also easily get convinced to receive therapy or treatment?” Would they even consider the option of seeking help from professionals or at least giving it a try to heal themselves with the help of self-help books?
Narcissists would strictly refrain from acknowledging their own flaws and may not be as receptive to professional help or self-help ideas. They do not believe the fact they might be troublesome for others and that they need some sort of help or intervention for them to be better as they already believe that they are flawless, amazing individuals with hardly any troublesome characteristic trait.
As suggested by some psychological experts, self-help books may not be that effective for treating narcissism as these books often reinforce the belief of some individuals and may not cater to the needs of distinct personalities. Narcissists also have difficulty acknowledging the problem in the first place. They might not want to even know that there might be a problem with them somehow or they might not even consider the fact that they are narcissistic or their traits are causing trouble for others.
Though seeking therapy from professional and trained psychology experts is a highly recommended option for working towards dealing with a narcissistic personality disorder. But a narcissist would never have the option of seeking help in the form of therapy from an expert as this might reduce their self-worth and also raise many questions about their amazing personalities.
So keeping all these factors into consideration, the summarization can be done with a simple understanding that narcissists have many risks of dying early as anxiety and stress are common issues in their everyday life as they are always worried about their grandiose image, their social status, and image, the fear of their true selves being exposed, the stress of losing their narcissistic supply, childhood trauma, relationship issues, work performance, the desire to always be the best among all, and many more. Such psychological issues may lead to many more consequences including chronic anxiety and stress, physiological health issues, and physical health issues; that may eventually lead to various repercussions which later become a major reason for early death.
But if they acknowledge the fact and accept their personality disorder, then they might be able to heal up to some extent with the help of therapy under experts and professional guidance. This may also decrease the risk of dying due to chronic anxiety or stress until and unless a natural death occurs.
Though the probability of narcissists having a short life span is high yet this does not prove that narcissists have a short life span. However, there are no specific pieces of evidence that suggest that narcissists have a shorter life span. Several factors can affect lifespan, including genetics, lifestyle, environment, and overall health. However, personality traits such as narcissism are not considered major predictors of mortality.
Conclusion
Even though all these factors may lead to a deterioration of mental and physical health, still it cannot be determined for sure that narcissists have a shorter life span. These above-mentioned reasons might play a role in determining a narcissist’s mental and physical health, still, this does not prove that narcissists have a shorter life span as compared to other non-narcissistic people.
Though the probability of narcissists having a short life span is high yet this does not prove that narcissists have a short life span. However, there are no specific pieces of evidence that suggest that narcissists have a shorter life span. Several factors can affect lifespan, including genetics, lifestyle, environment, and overall health. However, personality traits such as narcissism are not considered major predictors of mortality.
Ultimately the effects of narcissism can lead to a diminished quality of life and even shorter life span. Thus seeking help from professionals for a personality disorder becomes important and also helps in mitigating the negative impacts of such disorders.
From Relationship, Depression, and Personality Disorder to Narcissistic problems, I have helped a lot of people find their solutions. Upon gathering a number of common problems that people face, I decided to put the information on this blog so that anyone can get their answers easily.
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