THE TERM ‘narcissist’ is often thrown around to describe people who seem self-absorbed or have a large ego.

Have you ever wondered if it applies to you or a particularly annoying friend or colleague?

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Now, a 28-minute test can tell you where you fall on the score of narcissism – as well as three other “negative” personality types.

The five-minute quiz, published on the website Psychological Testing Online, is an online version of the Short Dark Tetrad test, by personality psychology researcher and professor Delroy Paulhus.

It’s designed to assess a set of four interrelated personality traits that are considered to be negative or harmful, according to Psychology Today.

These are narcissism, psychopathy, Machiavellianism, and sadism.

It’s noted on the website that the quiz is meant to be educational and entertaining – it can’t provide a diagnosis of narcissism and shouldn’t be used to diagnose a disease or condition or provide any sort of psychological advice.

To be formally diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder – a mental health condition characterised by impulsivity, volatility, attention-seeking, and a lack of empathy – you need to be assessed by a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Prof Paulhus defined narcissism as “an egotistical preoccupation with self”.

“Because of all their experience with maintaining their self image, people who score high for narcissism will often appear charming but their narcissism will later lead to extreme difficulty in developing close relationships,” he said

Meanwhile, Machiavellianism is described as a tendency to be manipulative and deceitful and see people as a means to achieve one’s own goals.

Psychopathy is a condition characterised by a lack of empathy and emotional response.

“The relative lack of emotions leads results in high stress tolerance, low empathy, little guilt and leads them to seek extremely stimulating activities, resulting in impulsivity and a disposition towards interpersonal conflict,” Prof Paulhus said.

As for sadism, this means deriving pleasure the pain and humiliation of others.

Completing the 28-part questionnaire will give you an idea of whether you score low, average or high for these four personality traits.

The test first asks whether you’re male or female before presenting a series of 28 statements, to which you have to reply if you “strongly disagree”, “disagree”, “neither agree nor disagree”, “agree” or “strongly agree”.

The quiz opens with the statement: “It’s not wise to let people know your secrets.”

It then goes on to ask whether you think others see you as a natural leader or if others describe you as “out of control”.

According to Dr Erin Buckels, an assistant professor of Psychology and Principal Investigator of the Dark Personality Research Lab at the University of Winnipeg, the Short Dark Tetrad Test assesses four personality themes.

It aims to gauge how “crafty”, “special”, “wild” or “mean” you are.

“Watching a fist fight excited me,” is the fourth statement quiz-takers are asked to respond to.

The test goes on to question whether you “have a unique talent for persuading people” or you think “group activities tend to be dull” without you.

It poses questions around how you respond to violence, whether you think manipulation is a useful to achieve what you want and how you view yourself.

“I have some exceptional qualities” is one such statement, as is “I like to show off every now and then”.

At the end of the questionnaire, you’ll be scored on the four personality types on a scale of 1 to 5.

For narcissism, a score of above 3.71 is considered “high”.

As for Machiavellianism, above 4.03 is “high”. For psychopathy, this is 2.64 and sadism 3.14.

A NURSE discovered she had cancer after getting lip filler.

Edita Jucaite, 36, had similar procedures before without any reaction but an injection last April immediately left her swollen with severe bruising.

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The doctor who administered it – who was also a colleague – said she should contact her GP.

She had also been losing weight and just a few hours after the appointment where Edita had a blood test, the surgery called her.

They said she needed to go straight to hospital as they suspected she had leukaemia.

Further tests confirmed that Edita had chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) – a type of cancer that affects the bone marrow and white blood cells.

She began having oral chemotherapy and is now in remission.

However, she will be on medication for life to help prevent the disease from returning.

Edita, from Banbury, Oxfordshire, said: “Not many people can say that lip fillers saved their life – but I can.

“If the bruising hadn’t happened and I hadn’t been encouraged to see the GP because of it then I may well have put it off again and again, which could have then meant the leukaemia may have progressed and been much harder to treat.

“I had no idea about the signs and symptoms of leukaemia.

“I was happy to be losing a bit of weight as I was about to go on holiday and I drank a lot of energy drinks which may have disguised my tiredness.

“There definitely needs to be more general awareness of leukaemia and what to look out for so more people can be diagnosed in time for treatment to be effective, like I was.”

Only 14 per cent of Brits are able to identify the four main symptoms of blood cancer, according to a new poll by Leukaemia Care and Leukaemia UK.

These are unusual bruising, unusual bleeding, fatigue, and repeated infections.

The organisations say this lack of awareness is contributing to more than a third of those with the condition finding out in A&E.

Around 10,000 people are diagnosed with leukaemia every year in the UK. Almost 5,000 lose their lives.

Annually, 37 per cent of those diagnosed with leukaemia receive this news in emergency settings – more than any other cancer type.

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A MUM felt her “soul leave her body” as she was told of her unborn baby’s devastating diagnosis.

Madysen Wilcox experienced spotting when she was six weeks along, with doctors initially fearing she’d had a miscarriage.

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Just a few weeks later, the 29-year-old mum was “blindsided” by a another devastating blow.

Madysen her husband, Darin, 34, were left dumbstruck when they were told that their baby’s brain had failed to form properly.

The mum-of-two, from Smithfield, Utah, USA, was so shocked by the diagnosis that she felt like she was undergoing an out-of-body experience.

She said: “Looking back on the day when we got the diagnosis, it felt like my soul left my body and I was watching myself react to the news.

“The ultrasound tech was very quiet for what felt like forever as she was looking at Charlie’s brain and heart.

“She then left to go get the doctor and he came in and told us the diagnosis.

“As soon as I heard it, it was at that moment, my soul left my body.

“The doctor told us the news, that his brain never formed into two hemispheres and his heart had some major defects as well. And that the diagnosis was fatal.”

Her unborn son, named Charlie, was diagnosed with Alobar Holoprosencephaly, a birth defect that means a baby’s brain doesn’t form properly or separate into right and left hemispheres.

The brain is normally divided into two halves, but they remain in contact and communication through nerve fibres.

The division allows the brain to process several pieces of information and perform several actions at once.

When your brain doesn’t divide properly in development, as in Holoprosencephaly, it causes several physical and neurological issues.

The condition is estimated to affect every one in 7,500 births, according to the NHS.

Many babies with the condition don’t survive full term.

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Madysen and Darin were faced with an “impossible decision” as they were offered two options by doctors: either to terminate the pregnancy or to see it through.

After continuously switching between the two options, the couple at first decided to terminate the pregnancy immediately as they didn’t want their unborn son to suffer any longer.

But Madysen and her husband – who are devout Christians – soon felt this wasn’t the right decision for them.

The mum chose to carry baby Charlie to term, saying the decision helped bring the family closer together.

Madysen already share two children together, Hayvn, six, and Harvey, three. They aren’t sure how long Charlie will survive once he’s born.

Reflecting on her ordeal, Madysen explained: “We had been trying to get pregnant for almost a year and we finally found out we were pregnant in February 2024.

“We started to have some complications when I was about six weeks pregnant.

“I started having some spotting and bleeding and the doctors initially suspected a miscarriage.

“My whole world felt like it was crashing down, and I was suffocating.

“It was all hitting me that we had just been told our baby will not survive.

“We went into that appointment suspecting Down Syndrome, not a fatal diagnosis.

“It was the last thing we ever expected to hear. The rest of that day, I just couldn’t stop crying, the tears felt like they would never stop.”

Madysen said that carrying Charlie full term had brought her and Darin closer together and helped her connect with other mums going through similar situations.

“Looking back, I can clearly see God’s hand in our lives and how he nudged us along to make the best decision for our family.

“Carrying Charlie has blessed me in more ways than I can count.

“He has brought me and Darin closer as a couple, he has brought us closer as a family.

“He’s also helped me connect with so many other wonderful mums who have been through something similar.”

But the mum still describes her pregnancy with Charlie as a “roller-coaster”.

Madysen said: “The roller coaster of emotions throughout this process has been exhausting.

“Prior to finding out Charlie’s official diagnosis, there were days where doctors told us things looked great and that everything was fine, then there were days where they were very concerned and we had to anxiously wait for test results, not knowing anything, and anticipating the worst.”

The mum is preparing herself for the agonising possibility of having to say goodbye to Charlie soon after he is born.

“Since his diagnosis is so rare, everything is a case-by-case scenario.

“So, we really have no idea how long he will live. We have had to prepare ourselves for every outcome basically.

“The hardest part with that is knowing we could meet him and immediately have to say goodbye.

“I was pregnant at the same time as two of my best friends this year and seeing them take home their healthy babies has been excruciating.”