In this era of social media, substantial amount of individuals are finding comfort in the label of narcissism to explain what they have experienced or are experiencing by an abuser.

Sighs of relief come from those who finally have a term to explain what they experienced. Cue the range of books and so called experts dedicated to help individual's recover from narcissists.

However, the current clinical understanding is that the term may not fully encompass the realities of domestic violence or abusive behaviour. This leads to the understanding that social media has failed when it has ultimately coloured abusive relationships with the same brush as narcissism or narcissistic personality disorder.

One of the most overlooked realities in psychology is this: personality disorders are not identified through blood tests, brain scans, or any form of biological marker.

There is no lab result for Narcissistic Personality Disorder. There is no objective medical test that confirms it. Instead, diagnoses such as Narcissistic Personality Disorder are constructed through clinical classification systems like the DSM, which rely on observed patterns of behavior, reported experiences, and functional impairment over time.

That fact alone should change the way these terms are used in public discourse.

In recent years, the term “narcissist” has become widely used across social media platforms, often in a loose and non-clinical way. It is frequently applied to describe behavior that is experienced as selfish, hurtful, dismissive, or emotionally difficult. While increased public awareness of mental health concepts is valuable and important, many of these interpretations are not grounded in clinical training or psychological research.