Covert narcissism is a mental illness characterized by specific maladaptive personality traits. The Greek myth about Narcissus, for whom the disorder is named, tells the story of an extraordinarily handsome man who rejected all the women who adored him and then fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. The modern psychiatric definition still connects with the myth and is defined by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as being primarily recognized by a patient’s lack of empathy for other people, an exaggerated sense of self-importance, and a willingness to exploit others for personal gain, even if the gain is simply emotional. Patients with covert narcissism, in comparison to their overt narcissistic counterparts, exhibit some unique behaviors associated with the covert designation. For example, covert types are prone to petty pathological lying and irreverence toward authority.
Some mental health clinicians believe that feelings of underlying inferiority and distrust of other people may be some of the root beliefs that help to construct this type of personality. These roots, and other related factors, contribute to some covert narcissistic clients being unhealthily obsessed and envious of others’ possessions, relationships, and talent. This exaggerated covert admiration of others’ successful lifestyles tends to lead to cynicism and an overall deep dislike for the majority of the population. The patient will go to extreme lengths to protect his perceived self-esteem. Almost paradoxical to and at odds with many laypersons’ view of narcissism, many covert-type patients have severely damaged and diminished self-esteem.
The actual “covert” type of behavior that is characteristic of this disorder can be seen when the patient’s shell of timidness, anxiousness and insecurity is cracked. This often happens with a therapist or friend forms a close relationship and learns through conversation and activity that the patient has varying degrees of delusional and grandiose ideals about himself and his station in life. Seemingly malicious and generally unfriendly discourse about others, sometimes coupled with plots or schemes to undermine others’ lives or cause them emotional or physical suffering, is common conversational content when talking to narcissistic patients.
Paul Wink with the University of California-Berkley professes that both kinds of narcissistic patients are often easily diagnosable using narcissistic scales and scoring systems because their oral reports tend to be boisterous and proud when speaking of themselves. Patients with covert narcissism may seem to be impressively knowledgeable on an overabundant number of subjects. As a friend or therapist becomes closer to the individual, however, much of the person’s highbrow anecdotes may be obsessively rehearsed and knowledge of some subjects can be categorized as simply memorized trivia.