Sound Familiar?

Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a mental condition in which people have an inflated sense of self-importance and an extreme preoccupation with themselves. It is characterized by a two-leveled personality organization. The grandiose self exists on the superficial and manifest level, and the real self which is frustrated, emotionally deprived, and full of impotent rage exists on the deeper level.

Someone suffering from Narcissistic Personality Disorder can be expected to so many, if not all, of the 10 following symptoms:

  1. Reacts to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation
  2. Takes advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals
  3. Has excessive feelings of self-importance
  4. Exaggerates achievements and talents while belittling those of others
  5. Is preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love
  6. Has unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
  7. Needs constant attention and admiration
  8. Disregards the feelings of others, and has little ability to feel empathy
  9. Has obsessive self-interest
  10. Pursues mainly selfish goals

In the of sufferers of Narcissistic Personality Disorder, their grandiose self dominates their inner world and is the primary shaper of the clinical picture. From the clinical point of view, narcissistic way of life is characterized by stereotyped cycles: periods of successful narcissistic activity, or narcissistic well-compensation, alternating with periods in which the narcissistic person fails to maintain their experience of grandiosity, i.e., narcissistic failure or decompensation.

Narcissistic Decompensation is the removal of the ego defenses propping up and sustaining the sufferer’s inflated self-esteem that was unable to “compensate” for a real or percieved injury of some kind. More simply put, decompensation occurs when the narcissist’s grandiosity is not validated by reality; their self image is impossible to sustain causing their real self to supplant their grandiose self. This normally results in the sufferer spirally downward into pessimism, frustration, and bitterness expressed as either withdrawal and passivity or some form of aggression, either at others or their selves.

Does any of this sound familiar?

President Obama - Narcissism and Self Adoration are his watchwords
Narcissistic Failure Anyone?

If you’re tuned into the American political landscape and have a reasonably unclouded mind, I’m guessing that it does…

Tags: | | | | | | | |

4 Responses to “Sound Familiar?”

  1. Titfortat Says:

    I think you could have pretty much put any president in the mirror. 😉

  2. jonolan Says:

    None except Obama fit the clinical presentation so well. While Presidents must have a certain narcissism, none have had so severe a case of Narcissistic Personality Disorder or, at least, that’s what he appears to suffer from.

  3. Alan Scott Says:

    Jonolan,

    I believe the narcissism of Barack Hussein Obama extends to his supporters. Their hero worship feeds his ego. I am quite amused by how thoroughly upset they are about the empty chair speech Mr. Eastwood gave. On one liberal blog they show Obama in his chair and the caption is ” Turns out this chair is occupied “.

    Yes it is indeed “occupied” . This occupier has done more damage than OWS.

  4. jonolan Says:

    Alan, I don’t know that Obama’s cultists can be truly described as narcissists. They’ve, like all cult victims, subjugated their selves to the cult collective and the cult leader. That sort of precludes narcissism.

    It does feed Obama’s ego though, which is one of the primary purposes of any cult leader.

Leave a Reply