Narcissism Analysis
Notes on Narcissism
Human Behavior in the Social Environment I (HBSE) HWC 504
Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare
May 18, 2013
Notes on Narcissism
Human behavior is the quirky ins and outs of life. Psychoanalyst theory is the science of desire. In the international best seller, What was she thinking? Notes on a Scandal, written by Zoë Heller and adapted in to movie in 2007, the reader is taken on the journey of two troubled women, Barbara and Sheba, whose lives have become intertwined in a cycle of self-destruction driven by their individual personality disorders. While Sheba loses herself in the delusion of a romantic affair with one of her fifteen-year-old pupils, Steven Connolly, Barbara conspires …show more content…
This self portrait is used like a shield to protect her from acknowledging her true self. It is important to understand that Barbara suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Through the course of this paper the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Barbara’s actions as well as thoughts, will be analyzed so that an understanding of Barbara’s motivations may be reached (Heller, 2003).
Understanding Narcissism
According to the American Physiological Associations the criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder is exhibited in early adulthood through the pervasive pattern of five out of nine character traits as defined in the DSM IV and DSM 5 for personality disorders. First, the client will express a belief of superiority over others that is unfounded and beyond reasonable. Second, an individual’s thoughts are often occupied by thoughts of their own perceived superior traits, to include power, intelligence, attractiveness, loyalty. Third, the belief of elitism. Furthermore, the individual will divide others in to two separate categories; they are either deemed elite as well or judged as inferior. Fourth, the need for excessive amounts of praise and admiration will become apparent. Fifth, the person will feel a great and …show more content…
Seventh, the individual lacks empathy towards others. Eighth, the person will experience regular impractical bouts of jealousy and may also perceive others as being jealous of them. And Ninth, he or she will behave in a arrogant and snobbish manner. As already noted, in order to be diagnosed with a personality disorder, a pervasive pattern of personality impairments must be identified. For example, being a snob or manipulator alone does not make one a candidate for this disorder. For an individual to meet this diagnosis the impairments must first be divided into two categories: personality functioning and personality traits. The two categories are then further broken down into subcategories. Personality functioning is broken down into the subcategories of self and interpersonal functioning that are then divided into subsections themselves as follows; Subsection A Identity: excessive reference to others for self-definition and self-esteem regulation; exaggerated self-appraisal may be inflated or deflated, or vacillate
Human Behavior in the Social Environment I (HBSE) HWC 504
Stony Brook University School of Social Welfare
May 18, 2013
Notes on Narcissism
Human behavior is the quirky ins and outs of life. Psychoanalyst theory is the science of desire. In the international best seller, What was she thinking? Notes on a Scandal, written by Zoë Heller and adapted in to movie in 2007, the reader is taken on the journey of two troubled women, Barbara and Sheba, whose lives have become intertwined in a cycle of self-destruction driven by their individual personality disorders. While Sheba loses herself in the delusion of a romantic affair with one of her fifteen-year-old pupils, Steven Connolly, Barbara conspires …show more content…
This self portrait is used like a shield to protect her from acknowledging her true self. It is important to understand that Barbara suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Through the course of this paper the symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Barbara’s actions as well as thoughts, will be analyzed so that an understanding of Barbara’s motivations may be reached (Heller, 2003).
Understanding Narcissism
According to the American Physiological Associations the criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder is exhibited in early adulthood through the pervasive pattern of five out of nine character traits as defined in the DSM IV and DSM 5 for personality disorders. First, the client will express a belief of superiority over others that is unfounded and beyond reasonable. Second, an individual’s thoughts are often occupied by thoughts of their own perceived superior traits, to include power, intelligence, attractiveness, loyalty. Third, the belief of elitism. Furthermore, the individual will divide others in to two separate categories; they are either deemed elite as well or judged as inferior. Fourth, the need for excessive amounts of praise and admiration will become apparent. Fifth, the person will feel a great and …show more content…
Seventh, the individual lacks empathy towards others. Eighth, the person will experience regular impractical bouts of jealousy and may also perceive others as being jealous of them. And Ninth, he or she will behave in a arrogant and snobbish manner. As already noted, in order to be diagnosed with a personality disorder, a pervasive pattern of personality impairments must be identified. For example, being a snob or manipulator alone does not make one a candidate for this disorder. For an individual to meet this diagnosis the impairments must first be divided into two categories: personality functioning and personality traits. The two categories are then further broken down into subcategories. Personality functioning is broken down into the subcategories of self and interpersonal functioning that are then divided into subsections themselves as follows; Subsection A Identity: excessive reference to others for self-definition and self-esteem regulation; exaggerated self-appraisal may be inflated or deflated, or vacillate