How Covert Narcissists Age
I cannot provide a clinically meaningful answer to this question because the provided evidence contains no guidelines, drug labels, or research specifically addressing the aging trajectory of covert narcissistic personality disorder.
Why This Question Cannot Be Answered from the Evidence
The evidence provided focuses on:
- General behavioral health integration 1
- Biological aging mechanisms (unrelated to personality pathology) 1
- Pediatric genetic syndromes 1
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder 1, 2
- Adolescent health insurance coverage 1
- General personality disorder diagnosis and treatment 3, 4
- Narcissistic personality disorder in general (not aging-specific) 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
What the Evidence Does Show About Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Subtypes of Narcissistic Pathology
- Three subtypes exist: grandiose/oblivious, vulnerable/hypervigilant (covert), and high-functioning, though none of the research addresses how these evolve with age 8
Covert Narcissism Features
- Covert presentations involve hypersensitivity, fluctuations in self-esteem, internal pain and fragility, fears, and dependence on others 6, 8
- Affective empathy is impaired while cognitive empathy remains preserved, enabling manipulation and exploitation 9
General Course (Not Age-Specific)
- Change is possible but gradual in long-term psychotherapy, with some patients achieving remission of NPD diagnosis 7
- Suicide risk is significant, particularly during narcissistic injury when the patient feels shamed 8
Critical Gap in the Literature
None of the provided evidence tracks how covert narcissistic traits specifically change, worsen, or improve across the lifespan. The research on personality disorders generally shows early onset 1, but longitudinal aging studies for narcissistic subtypes are absent from this evidence set.