NARCISSISM
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TOXIC AND MALIGNANT NARCISSISM
MILESTONE 2: Psychology of Erich Fromm, The Rocky Road
ROAD HAZARDS and DANGER SIGNS
Tales from the Dark Side of Life
Speaking of Lost Souls, I've seen plenty of ROADKILL in the Judicial System. They share certain commonalities. Avoid them if you can; they are warning signs on the road of life of how NOT to be. They live in a Hell of their own making and will gladly pull you into it, given the chance. These predators are the cancers of society, the embodiment of evil and mayhem. Those with these patterns are consumed by their SHADOW nature, and will pull others into their vortex of evil so their own sick needs are met. Fromm describes this character in THE ANATOMY OF HUMAN DESTRUCTIVENESS.
THERE IS NO CONTRADICTION BETWEEN NORMAL NARCISSISM AND A SPIRITUAL ORIENTATION; THERE IS ALL THE CONTRADICTION IN THE WORLD BETWEEN ABNORMAL NARCISSISM AND SPIRITUALITY. PATHOLOGICAL NARCISSISM is TOXIC, even MALIGNANT. Most of us are self-absorbed much of the time, especially in an electronic culture where the USER IS CONTENT. We are hyper-connected, broadcasting our own conversations, ideas, photos, music and art potentially to the whole world. However, we can pull ourselves out into the positions of others with rapport. empathy and compassion. In the hands of predators, rapport and empathy become tools to manipulate others to their twisted ends. Compassion is non-existence. Contrition is an act.
1. Necrophilous thinking.
Malignant Aggression (hoarding; blood; death; dismemberment; violence) Necrophilia, "love of the dead", transcends sexual perversion, extending to love of dead objects at any cost, even human well-being or life. This crass materialism is a character-rooted passion. The necrophilius character is twisted so that death and dead things (object relations) is what their lives feed on: a passionate attraction to all that is dead, decayed, putrid, sickly; the passion to transform the alive to the unalive; to destroy for the sake of destruction; exclusive interest in all that is mechanical; passion to tear apart living structures. Predatory preference for lifeless matter. Love of death is revealed in dream images, language, and love of speed as an intoxicant, and fascination with techniques of mass destruction and a lifeless world of technolization. Exploitative, malignant anal character; destructive sex, speed and noise. Addiction; crime; cultural and spiritual decay.2. Incestuous symbiosis
(mother-fixation for unconditional love, security, admiration, protection; toxic attachment to material goods)3. Toxic narcissism
(narcissistic supply disorders; sociopathic personality; self-absorption; positive narcissism)
WHAT IS NPD (Narcissistic Personality Disorder)?
When an obstacle to development is encountered, development is stunted or arrested - but not for long. A distorted pattern of development, a bypass appears. Hence, psychopathological conditions are the outcomes of disturbed growth. The personality twists and turns, deforms itself, is transformed - until it reaches a functional equilibrium, which is not too ego-dystonic. There it settles down and continues its more or less linear pattern of growth. But the thrust is clear: onwards. Adaptation above all, growth at any price, straight or deformed. Such a personality structure may be abnormal - but it has triumphed in the delicate task of successful adaptation.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) has been recognized as a seperate mental health disorder. An all-pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behaviour), need for admiration or adulation and lack of empathy, usually beginning by early adulthood and present in various contexts. Narcissistic Supply is a prime desire and motivator. Five (or more) of the following criteria must be met:
Feels grandiose and self-importance (e.g., exaggerates achievements and talents to the point of lying, demands to be recognized as superior without commensurate achievements)
Is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success, fame, fearsome power or omnipotence, unequalled brilliance (the cerebral narcissist), bodily beauty or sexual performance (the somatic narcissist), or ideal, everlasting, all-conquering love or passion
Firmly convinced that he or she is unique and, being special, can only be understood by, should only be treated by, or associate with, other special or unique, or high-status people (or institutions)
Requires excessive admiration, adulation, attention and affirmation -or, failing that, wishes to be feared and to be notorious (narcissistic supply).
Feels entitled. Expects unreasonable or special and favourable priority treatment. Demands automatic and full compliance with his or her expectations
Is "interpersonally exploitative", i.e., uses others to achieve his or her own ends
Devoid of empathy. Is unable or unwilling to identify with or acknowledge the feelings and needs of others
Constantly envious of others or believes that they feel the same about him or her
Arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitudes coupled with rage when frustrated, contradicted, or confronted.
The language in the criteria above is based on or summarized from: American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, fourth edition (DSM IV). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association. Sam Vaknin. (1999). Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited, first edition. Prague and Skopje: Narcissus Publication. ("Malignant Self Love - Narcissism Revisited" http://www.geocities.com/vaksam/faq1.html )
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