NPD (Narcissistic Personality) discussion

[BPScooter]

A couple threads here, as well as general commentary, have brought up the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Definitions are available, examples are available.

Both Mrs. Scooter and I are noticing a new presence on the Internet discourse, in very different places. I pointed her to some of Athon's comments about NPD, she related similar experiences on her favorite web forums.

I guess my main question is this: Has the web enabled Narcissists (like me, in a harmless sort of way) to fully indulge a Personality preference, and to take it to the level of Disorder?

I tend to think that the medium we're all enjoying will allow for a "disorder" to be noticed.

 

[Dr. Imago]

Personalities exist on a continuum, and we all possess a broad constellation of personality traits that ebb and flow into the fringes of disorder from time to time. Personality is really just an external reflection of our inner mood and motivation. It only becomes a "disorder" when it affects our relationships with others. And, perhaps not-so-ironically, the hallmark of a personality disorder is that the affected most often doesn't believe there is a problem. It is their negative interpersonal effects on the people around them that gets them a label on Axis II.

You could argue that the anonymity of an internet forum "liberates" some of these traits, but this isn't truly a face-to-face environment where people are much more civil and appropriate to the norms of society... unless they concomitantly have a disorder. Likewise, the fact that you've identified yourself as narcissistic probably rules you out.



-Dr. Imago

 

[Yahzi]

I'm with Imago on this - the only true case of NPD I've seen on the web is Tammy the "not-a-chiropracter chiropracter from God" over in "Funny, fighting woo with more woo" thread. And her case includes newspaper clippings from her antics in church and court appearances. *

Just being an a-hole on the web is not a personality disorder. Exhibiting your vanity, pretending to be special, talking about how cool you are, and ignoring evidence are normal human behavior. They only seem exaggerated on the web because the usual social restrictions are diminished.

All that said, ya, it does seem like the nuttiest nuts can find social reinforcement on the web, and thus be encouraged in their nuttiness.

* (Excluding good old Gene Ray, of course. )

 

[Dancing David]

A couple threads here, as well as general commentary, have brought up the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Definitions are available, examples are available.

Both Mrs. Scooter and I are noticing a new presence on the Internet discourse, in very different places. I pointed her to some of Athon's comments about NPD, she related similar experiences on her favorite web forums.

I guess my main question is this: Has the web enabled Narcissists (like me, in a harmless sort of way) to fully indulge a Personality preference, and to take it to the level of Disorder?

I tend to think that the medium we're all enjoying will allow for a "disorder" to be noticed.

The Axis II is a very wierd thing, and Cluster B, is certainly the strangest.

The first thing is that Axis II is to not be diagnosed in the presence of Axis I symptoms, so it is very overused by people as a convinient handle to state a category of behaviors. So if you have a person with NPD tendencies and they have depression or panic attacks then it is not a peronality disorder.

The second thing is the spectrum, we all can recognise traits in ourselves that are reflected in the personality disorders and almost any DSM-IVR diagnosis, so we can all see traits that we have to some extent in many of the PDs.

But as a doctor once put it "Yeah, but you didn't go to the hospital because of it."

Which gets to the key of 'substantial life impairment'.

I don't feel that internet relations would give a PD the potential for intensity that they need, the ability to prove self worth through negative interactions seems to be a hallmark.

Even more interesting, the differential diagnosis of Hystrionic and Narcissistic seems to be a gender biased interpretation of the same disorder.

 

[blutoski]

A couple threads here, as well as general commentary, have brought up the Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

Definitions are available, examples are available.

Both Mrs. Scooter and I are noticing a new presence on the Internet discourse, in very different places. I pointed her to some of Athon's comments about NPD, she related similar experiences on her favorite web forums.

I guess my main question is this: Has the web enabled Narcissists (like me, in a harmless sort of way) to fully indulge a Personality preference, and to take it to the level of Disorder?

I tend to think that the medium we're all enjoying will allow for a "disorder" to be noticed.

I think the internet has facilitated some cluster B patients. Specifically, OCPD. I do think there are NPD online, but it's impossible to diagnose from postings.

One feature of NPD is the 'narcissistic injury'. If you show them up, narcissists pout a bit and usually shrink away. They move on to victimize lower-hanging fruit.

Disorder is more a question of 'is this destroying your life?'.

 

[Dave1001]

Anyone caught the news story about Dr. Drew Pinsky giving celebrities some kind of standardized narcissism test?

 

[Dr. Imago]

I think the internet has facilitated some cluster B patients. Specifically, OCPD.

Just so we're clear on the PD lingo...

Cluster A = weird, mad
Cluster B = wild, bad
Cluster C = worried, sad

Obsessive-compulsive, also known as "anancastic personality", really falls under Cluster C.

Just wanted to point that out.

-Dr. Imago

 

[BPScooter]

Any idea of how these things are distributed? Is Cluster C a fat long low distributiion along a normal, where B might be found most on teenage males? This is really fascinating, since it seems to me this is where psychology can really cut some teeth, get predictive in a large sense. I'm totally curious and if, as was pointed out elsewhere, we had some confidence in measurement (not to mention cross-cultural measurement), therapeutic and educational steps would emerge. Helping people, families, clinics. It still boils down to measurement, reliability/validity thereof, though. Point me in a direction to read up on, please!