Many of the symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder are relatively easy to identify. They include an overinflated opinion of the self, a desire for and expectation of constant praise from others, a lack of empathy toward others and a tendency to be harshly critical. Additional features of the condition include fantasizing about success and eventually receiving the recognition of others, being concerned if possessions, appearance, or self are not perfect, exploiting others to get things, and having an extremely fragile self-esteem that is marked by underlying deep self-criticism and fear of shame.
It should be understood that symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder represent a spectrum. Most people have their moments of excessive self-criticism or grandiosity, of envying others or of having fragile self-esteem. These don’t represent a disorder, provided a person’s relationships to others or ability to function in the world is not constantly being impacted by these things.
One of the areas where this is the case is when adolescents are assessed for narcissistic personality disorder. Many teenagers would appear to have this condition due to their developmental stage and their fundamental work in forming an identity separate from caregivers at this time. Generally, though exceptions exist, narcissistic personality disorder is not diagnosed until people are in adulthood.
The symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder make sense when considered together and they have to be considered as emanating from the inability to individually maintain a strong image of self. People with this disorder constantly look to others to mirror them or provide praise. When they attempt this process on their own, they lack a strong core set of beliefs about their own worth and instead encounter self-criticism.
To deflect from the constant self-loathing, narcissists focus on outward shows of personal worth, which could include bragging about possessions or accomplishments, seeking friends only among those who will admire them, or castigating others for having or being less. Expressed opinions about the self are often overestimation of importance or talent that lead to unrealistic and unjustified bragging. Grandiosity and boasting can cause the most confusion because these things sound like high self-esteem, but they really represent the opposite and are an attempt to get others not to see the core lowly self that is a source of perpetual shame.
Certain symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder further block people from the path of having real relationships with others; though many narcissists do marry and sometimes marry other narcissists, which creates constant mirroring between the couple. Children who come into this picture may be treated as prizes, and if they are accomplished, they may receive affection from narcissistic parents, but only if they meet parental standards.
Probably the most disliked symptoms of narcissistic personality disorder are the tendency to have no empathy for others and to use and exploit people for personal gain. Someone with this condition could feign deep friendship with another to get a job promotion, or could lose interest in a friend who suddenly has life problems and seems to need sympathy. Narcissism ultimately represents failure to understand belonging with the rest of the human race, so sympathy with it is impossible. As long as a person with this disorder remains untreated, on the outside he is special, elite and different, and on the inside, he is so terribly unworthy he can never do or be enough to hide his shame. At either pole, he is alone with little real closeness to others.
|
christensen
Post 5 |
Well, these are interesting viewpoints. Personality disorders are, however, defined by the way they deeply affect the person’s ability to function. They are not diagnosed when a normally functioning person, such as President Obama, shows a little arrogance. We all have some elements of narcissism. Any contributor here ever feel sad that they were getting old? Anybody ever feel unjustly criticized? The true narcissist depends on the adulation of others and sadly, is not able to prop up the self when things go badly. Also, according to the DSM-IV, a personality disorder is only diagnosed when a consistent pattern of behavior (usually from young adulthood on) is shown. Even those movie stars who invest so much in plastic surgery were not necessarily narcissists. Also, narcissists cannot lead other people because they’re not interested in anyone else-- they completely lack empathy. It is very unlikely that those two cute little girls who are Obama’s daughters would be happy children, or that Michelle would be a happy woman if they were children and wife to a narcissist. You also want to look at Obama’s willingness to take criticism and engage politicians who do not agree with him. A narcissist could not possibly act in this manner because he would only surround himself with admirers. But again, we all have our moments of arrogance, of believing we’re the most important, or wanting to show off, of wanting to be the prettiest. They are not disorders in the classic sense but are something we as humans inherit, and as humans we can ignore in favor of serving the greater good or being better people. I personally found Mr. Obama’s admission of wrongdoing and apology to the nation earlier in his presidency, one of the most remarkable occurrences in American politics. He is not liberal enough to suit me, but I will not call him a narcissist, anymore than I will call John McCain or even George W. Bush that. Standards, people! Because the act of a narcissist is to accuse and label what he doesn’t agree with or cannot truly justify -- let’s not go there. Let’s show the world that our discourse doesn’t have to include irrational accusations. |
|
christensen
Post 4 |
Community organizing is not about receiving praise, it's about bringing people together to cooperate on a common goal. A narcissist would be incapable of this because the only goal is the narcissist's goal. Very little else matters. A lot of evidence exists that Mr. Obama was effective in community organizing. But surely, comfyshoes, you can recognize when someone is making a tongue in cheek statement about not getting enough press; that was meant as a joke. It's clear you're no fan of Obama, especially in your comparison of him to Castro. I don't think it's necessary if you do not like the man as president to diagnose him with a true mental disorder or to assert he is a communist. |
|
sneakers41
Post 3 |
@Suntan12: That is a good point. I often wonder how many people in the public eye receive a diagnosis for narcissistic personality disorder. Some of these celebrities are so vain and have such an air of being superior that I wonder if the condition developed after they became famous or they always had these tendencies. People get addicted to fame and public adulation, but this type of attention is fleeting and not many celebrities deal with the realities of aging and resuming a less prominent role in Hollywood as they get older. Many celebrities resort to ridiculous amounts of plastic surgery in order to compete with younger performers but in the end they make themselves look worse in the process. Joan Rivers and Meg Ryan immediately come to mind. |
|
suntan12
Post 2 |
@Comfyshoes: I agree that Obama shows signs of classic narcissistic personality disorder symptoms. He feels that he is the only one who can rescue the United States from its economic problems, which plays into the exaggerated sense of self and superiority complex that he has. Unfortunately, his feelings could not be any further from the truth. |
|
comfyshoes
Post 1 |
I know that many dictators have narcissistic personality disorder symptoms because they need constant approval and seek power at all costs.
In fact detractors are often jailed or killed because the leader wants to enjoy public adulation with no dissent.
Fidel Castro the former leader of Cuba definitely fits this description. He feels that his ideas are superior to those around him and he has to lead Cuba in order for the country to be “Free from the influence of the United States.”
He felt that only he was capable of leading Cuba and although he has pick his brother as a successor, most narcissists usually don’t pick a successor because they feel that they will live on forever.
A lot of people in American political circles feel that Obama has narcissistic personality disorder symptoms because he has this constant need to be praised that it is really unseemly.
When he began his presidency he could not receive more praise from the press because it was just not possible, yet now he complains that the press was unfair to him.
He also has such an exaggerated sense of self that I can understand now how he thought that a community organizer and a senator with just a few years of experience could actually become president of the United States.
|
