From the NYT.
The central requirement for N.P.D. is a special kind of self-absorption: a grandiose sense of self, a serious miscalculation of one’s abilities and potential that is often accompanied by fantasies of greatness....
The second requirement for N.P.D.: since the narcissist is so convinced of his high station, he automatically expects that others will recognize his superior qualities and will tell him so. This is often referred to as “mirroring.” It’s not enough that he knows he’s great. Others must confirm it as well, and they must do so in the spirit of “vote early, and vote often.”
Finally, the narcissist, who longs for the approval and admiration of others, is often clueless about how things look from someone else’s perspective. Narcissists are very sensitive to being overlooked or slighted in the smallest fashion, but they often fail to recognize when they are doing it to others.
I think it's the last sentence that most succinctly captures the spirit of a true narcissist.
7 comments:
I saw this article, too. I was very interested because NPD most closely defines P., when I consider his actions from a psychological standpoint. While I can't really know what goes on inside his mind, his outward behavior clearly matches many of the "symptoms" mentioned on the Mayo Clinic website.
What happens now to all those diagnosed and treated for for NPD? Do they go where pluto went?
Ah yes, The Brother. He may indeed have NPD tendencies.
My reading about NPD says that patients have terrible success rates in therapy. Why? Because the therapists have a hard time bonding with the patients.
The NYT article was interesting on the subject of why the changes are being made in the first place. It's basically a war between the clinicians and the researchers, between those who deal day-to-day with patients and those who study and write papers and update the DSM. Each side wants to arrive at a diagnosis using a different style. Stuff like that. At least that's what I got out of my one reading of the article.
This debate among the so called experts makes the profession look like a laughing stock. Where is the credibility? The clinicians’ input should have had much more weight. What about those who had previously been diagnosed with one of the 5? Are they suddenly cured? It seems this was not well thought out and they just threw something together called trait dysfunctions. What kind of medical diagnosis would we arrive at if we just looked at the symptoms and had an ala carte way of treatment? Of course individuals are unique, but there are prototypes for rendering effective treatment for a particular “disease” and they can be altered according to the individual’s needs. This situation needs to be amended before the whole profession looks like a joke and the public turns away from getting help. Too bad it isn’t as easy to remove narcissism from the work-group as it is the DSM.
Dear Anonymous: I agree with virtually every point you made. But I will defend the DSM work groups a bit because -- in theory at least -- this is how science progresses. ("Progresses" is a loaded word but that's another story.) Science shifts because new ideas are generated, tweaks are made in diagnostic manuals, knowledge changes. It makes sense to me that if our society values, and funds, scientific research then that society must be willing to change diagnostic criteria when enough studies show that a new way is better. So in that sense, I support changes to the DSM. Another change that is being proposed for the new DSM (which BTW isn't due out until 2013) is the eliminate Asperger's syndrome as a distinct diagnosis, along with autism. They will be subsumed under the general diagnosis of ASD--autism spectrum disorders. I expect to see a huge fight over that before the dust settles and the book is issued.
correction:
"...is the ELIMINATION OF Asperger's..."
And another point I forgot to make before I hit "publish" is that all of these DSM changes may have more to do with insurance coverage than they do with scientific research. Just a skeptic's hunch.
I actually supported the decision based on numerous psych observations. My determinations are that individuals with NPD simply do not change. However, they slowly grow out of it and are still able to function well in society and some even become high achievers.
Post a Comment