SUPERFICIAL, NARCISSISTIC & SELF ABSORBED
Today's society is riddled with a constant stream of selfies & media focused perfectionism e.g. grades, status & looks. Somehow during this time period emerged a cult Kardashians following? These types of popular trends can influence societies and perhaps pushing a new boundary socially of what's deemed acceptable. But what are the mental health implications, if any?
This blog post aims to critically discuss the relevant personality disorders that can develop if nurtured in a superficial setting.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) reflects egotistical, attention seeking & very superficial mannerisms. Is the current popular celebrity trend, e.g "NOTICE ME ME ME!", pushing the boundaries towards accepting a milder form of NPD unknowingly ?
The 3 dark triads cross over to a degree. Machiavellianism expression is relatively more common in daily life.
The NARCISSISM component can lead to the development of NPD, which is currently estimated as 1% of the population (known/recorded).
Psychologists are constantly debating and renewing NPD's definition & classification. Hence there are many NPD forms that emerge over time.
NPD's are not limited to the typical cold hearted boss you may associate it with. The key NPD traits do tend to merge together across NPD classifications, e.g. ATTENTION SEEKING & CONTROLLING.
Psychopaths tend to be BORN, e.g. they are not a product of their environment. They possess some NPD traits, but NPD's (made) do not turn into psychopaths.
We all have been narcissistic at some point in our lives, e.g. as teens, but it should not spur into a fully fledged maladaptive NPD.
NPD's are attracted to ANYONE who can feed their NPD traits, e.g. to feel superior, loved and desired by all, because their inner self is like an empty shell. This empty shell analogy reflects the pain & lack of understanding of their real self.
An "empath" is a type of personality that instinctively feels emotions for another. This is something NPD's struggle with daily & deeply desire.
NPD sufferers can shift from one NPD form to another depending on environmental stressors & bespoke reactivity.
High functioning NPD's are HARD to SPOT because they tend to be talented at masking their traits and successfully integrate into society, e.g. likability factor.
NPD's use their body (SOMATIC) &/ intelligence (CEREBRAL) to express their traits to manipulate others.
The two main branches - COVERTS NPD (extroverts) & OVERTS NPD (introverts) -express their NPD traits differently. They differ both in their perception of themselves and the varying levels of self esteem, but the empty shell analogy is the same.
The parental impact is merely one suggestion to help understand the NPD mindset; however, other theories & research may shed more light over time.
The main point here is to understand a possible rationale for the NPD's traits that are expressed across all NPD 1+ forms.
A NPD's compulsion to be manipulative is to avoid subconscious feelings of FEAR: the anxiety of being alone, unloved, not accepted and perhaps not really understanding their genuine sense of self.
With NPD's not being able to bear the emotions of accepting their genuine sense of self, this means they do not know who they really are or what they want, like & hate etc.
They live the ideals of someone else's expectations daily and are unknowingly living a lie. To accept this is hard; to feel this is psychologically mentally painful.
The neurological & psychological research on 1+ NPD's forms has shed light on this personality disorder. The current "celebrity" popularity may be promoting trends to be narcissistic. Perhaps this new trend will reinforce NPD development more easily than before.
Behaviours that promote a mentally healthy percept of one's sense of self or identity are not bridged by being superficial, narcissistic or self absorbed. NPD's display this by the loneliness they live in, the conflict they experience and the games they consciously enjoy playing. They do so because this is the only way they feel the world around them.
PUT SIMPLY:
Life is more than just taking 101 "selfies", "Instagram likes", "Twitter egotistical expression" or the excessive focus on comparing ourselves to a socially constructed ideal of perfectionism that is not our own, but someone else's.
