The narcissism epidemic is dead?
If narcissism is something that has penetrated the popular consciousness as being an &quot;epidemic&quot;, then perhaps surveys are showing less narcissism because people have been trained to answer the survey in a way that minimizes the recognized markers.<p>Certain younger people I know seem to be obsessed with the concept of narcissists being the root of all evil, and defending millennials as a generation from charges of various faults. It seems weird to me because nobody I knew talked in this way about Generation X or mental disorders when I was at a similar age. I suspect the internet and optimized clickbait of reaching some sort of critical mass that may be interfering with the mental functioning of people who would otherwise be reasonably sanguine about the world.<p>The more people worry about narcissism, the more I would expect them to conceal anything indicative on a survey.<p>A screed I read on the internet many years ago about narcissism was written by a guy who self-identified as such, and the overriding impression I got was that his issue was vast and malignant self-hatred, to the point where I didn&#x27;t really believe he was as horrible as he claimed. I was unable to tell whether he resembled the &quot;canonical&quot; narcissist, whatever that might be. It made me wonder if a narcissist can be self aware or not, by definition.<p>I think the use of surveys to define and monitor mental disorders is a morass of confusion and misunderstandings.