Not long ago, I listened to someone, a non-mental health professional, lament the collapse of their long-term romantic relationship. Their former lover allegedly “two-timed” them, and upon being discovered, made no effort at repairing. Summarily, the lamenting party added, “Just no empathy, and so absorbed with so-and-so now. It’s all about them! That’s the description of a narcissist.”

The above is just one of many similar commentaries I’ve overheard in general social circles as people try to make sense of some allegedly troubling person in their life by using the current trendy pop culture psychological diagnoses.

Like ADHD, autism, PTSD, and bipolar disorder before them, some personality disorders have taken a seat at the table of pop culture’s ongoing buffet of misrepresented mental illnesses. Relying only on a popularized representative symptom or two, like a perception of "no empathy" to justify the diagnostic application, illusory explanations for vexing behavior via casual personality disorder diagnoses sometimes permeate social airwaves, second only to cellphone tower transmissions.

Truth be told, like how the bipolar buzz led to layperson suspicion that anyone exhibiting reactivity had a major mental illness, the majority of allegations of personality disorders by non-professionals are based on flimsy evidence at best.

I’ve wondered, too, if there is an even more devil-may-care attitude about accuracy because it is no secret that the favored pop culture personality disorders mentioned above are the most damning. They double as handy insults disguised as a........

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