Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) can be identified through one simple question it seems.
That’s according to a guy named Jacob Skidmore, AKA ‘The Nameless Narcissist’, a content creator originating from Ohio who likes to delve into the intricacies of his own diagnosis with hundreds of thousands of his online followers.
This mental health condition acts as an inflated sense of self-importance, as well as a deep lack of empathy towards others they consider lower than themselves.
Interestingly, sufferers often experience a fragility in their self-esteem and struggle in relationships thanks to the self-centredness that dominates their mind.
Speaking to LADbible a couple of years ago, Skidmore revealed how others like him can be separated from everyone else.
“Nowadays I’m (obviously) very open about my condition but, since I was aware of the opinion most people had about it, I didn’t tell anyone for around two years,” he began.
Being diagnosed with NPD, Jacob Skidmore can properly explain the perspective of a narcissist (Instagram/@the.nameless.narcissist)
“I know some people with NPD that have gone decades without disclosing it out of fear of judgement. That’s the issue with having such a shame-driven disorder. It’s hard to tell anyone something that you think they’ll judge you for.”
Meanwhile, in a clip dating back to 2023, the social media personality opened up about the specific question you need to ask somebody to find out whether they have NPD.
Beware, it’s a bit lengthy…
“So I’m a diagnosed narcissist, and this is a question that was proposed to me by another friend of mine who is a diagnosed narcissist,” he said. “And when I heard it, I was like, ‘Oh my God, yes, finally somebody said it.’ Like the answer to this question felt so objectively true to me.
“And I was shocked that, finally, I met somebody else who can see the reality of things. Naturally, that’s not reality, it’s my disorder but still.
Jacob Skidmore has shared what it’s like to live with NPD (Instagram/@thenamelessnarcissist)
“Ask them: ‘Don’t you think that there are just objectively better and worse people in the world, and people who are superior and inferior and the rest of the world just wants to ignore that?’”
Elaborating on this effective insight, Skidmore continued: “Narcissists view the world through that lens, through the ideas that there are people who have more inherent self-worth and some people who have less self-worth, people who are better than other people and people who are worse.
“That is a central core belief that drives their actions. And it is why constantly they’re trying to prove that they are part of the better people because, deep down, they think they’re part of the worst people.”
Try it out!