Main Character Syndrome

Main Character Syndrome isn’t a medical diagnosis. The idea of seeing yourself as the protagonist in every scene may be a concept plucked from social media, but it’s one with profound implications. Yes, there are upsides to being the main character. It can foster the resilience to spend many hours tackling huge tasks. It’s the confidence that says, 'I can do this, when everyone else hesitates. There are moments' in life when you must be that main character and shoulder the responsibility.

Main character syndrome is defined by a series of behaviours in which you see yourself as the main character in the story of your life[1]. You are the protagonist, and everyone else is often just a sidekick or a villain. You often see yourself as the most important person in the room, and you act according to the narrative of your plot — however you define it.

When you embrace Main Character Syndrome, you tend to highlight or reinforce certain aspects of your personality to benefit your story and your place in other people’s lives. You think you're the Sun around with other people revolve as just minor planets. The spotlight is always on you.

When you’re romanticizing your problems, you often feel like you have to go through difficult problems because it gives you some sort of imaginary growth or character development.

Sometimes, with Main Character Syndrome, you might often believe it will all magically work out positively or that everything will have a happy ending the way movies tend to wrap things up in the end. But this may not ever be the case.

Certain aspects of main character syndrome are often closely related to behaviours associated with a narcissistic personality disorder.

The key difference between narcissism and Main Character Syndrome is the level of stability. For someone who has narcissistic personality disorder, you would see evidence of this throughout their life and in different contexts in their relationships at work and at home. For someone who has Main Character Syndrome, this is something that may be the focus or mindset at certain periods of someone’s life and not in others. Especially conspiracy theorists and antivaxxers, who seem to regard themselves as experts in fields that they have no knowledge in, might be suffering from Main Character Syndrome. They berate experts, feel important, are praized by like-minded simple people, and think they are the experts.

Main Character Syndrome can often be associated with anxiety, insecurity, and low self-esteem. In the end, the true protagonist is always the patient.

[1] Morgan: The dangers of main character syndrome in healthcare in British Medical Journal - 2025. See here.