Can Brain Injuries Cause Narcissism?
For that matter, do all chronic health conditions correlate with narcissism?
Do you ever scroll through social media, perhaps while you’re waiting for your gas tank to fill, and you just want a little light-hearted entertainment, and then you see or hear something that blows your mind?
That happened to me this morning. I was shivering in the cold air while my gas tank filled up, watching videos on TikTok while I waited, and one creator (SarahSlaterArt) posted a clip where she wondered if there was a correlation between Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Commenters on the video went wild. As soon as I got back to my computer, I Googled peer-reviewed scientific studies examining this connection. Of course, it makes sense: Lack of empathy is a defining characteristic of those with NPD, and empathy resides in the anterior insular cortex (AIC) of the brain, so it follows that injury or damage to the AIC could result in decreased empathy.
The studies agreed that while a correlation between TBI and NPD does not imply that brain injuries cause Narcissism, the symptoms of both can look identical: Verbal or physical outbursts, impulsive behavior, negativity, decreased empathy or apathy for others, egocentricity and grandiosity.
