Normalizing Narcissism
Just when I thought the New York Times was irrelevant, along comes this report revealing that the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders -- psych's big book of major malfunctions -- has done away with narcissistic personality disorder.
Now, this is a controversial decision even among experts. And I'm hardly the sort of person to believe that something doesn't exist if it doesn't exist in an official expert taxonomy. There's a danger in growing so dependent upon our attitudinal officer class that we fail to call bad behavior bad if there's no scientifically-certified syndrome to hang around it.
But! Does anyone else sense that this news is part of a broader phenomenon? The Times piece emphasizes that the particulars of NPD are far narrower than the meaning of narcissism in the popular imagination. Yet when that broad popular meaning blurs into conduct and attitudes that an increasing number of people take for granted in everyday life, how can clinicians maintain the integrity of the NPD diagnosis? Can anything stop the normalization of narcissism?
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Dec '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
I think the APA realized that they had to make this change to the DSM before someone used it to trigger the provisions of the 25th Amendment.
Aug '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
Did they take out the picture of Obama ? On the interstate about 12 miles south of here, there was a big billboard that had one word on it- MARXIST, stayed there for about four months,then three months ago it changed. Now it has one word on it - NARCISSIST.
gotta love it !
May '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
I haven't really noticed narcissism getting any worse. Is it not part of the human condition?
Nov '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
A malignant narcissist moves into the White House, and the term conveniently goes out of the mental manual. Coincidence? I think not.
That is no joke. In spite of his titanic ego, I think Obama has a very fragile, unstable personality.
Aug '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
In 1979, historian Christopher Lasch's critique of contemporary American culture, The Culture of Narcissism was published. I have recently read it and was stunned by its prophetic nature. It is, simply, a must read. Here is a link to an essay from early this year on the book by Lee Siegel (whose Against the Machine is also a fascinating look at web-age culture).
I wonder, as a practical matter, what difference it makes if a diagnosis is dropped from the DSM? The less officially recognized "psychological" disorders, the less ready-made excuses.
Dec '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
He is fortunately the kind of fragile personality that recoils from setbacks. Every time in his life that he's found he's not good at something, he has simply withdrawn and tried something else. He's been a poor corporate worker, a poor lawyer, a poor community organizer, a poor state legislator, a poor Constitutional law lecturer, a poor US Senator, and now a poor President. If he remains true to form, he'll blame the office for his poor performance and latch onto something else -- say, the UN Secretary Generalship -- as the place where he can REALLY make a difference.
I don't fear any Capt. Queeg or Gen. Jack D. Ripper moments from him.
Aug '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
But not just the one disorder.
According to the article, the new edition "has eliminated five of the 10 personality disorders that are listed in the current edition." (I haven't been able to locate the other four that are getting the axe, though I'm curious.)
So maybe this isn't a sign of normalizing narcissism, but a sign that the whole idea of "personality disorder" needed an overhaul.
I'm not surprised that they wanted to overhaul the personality disorders. A lot of people have been hurt -- stigmatized or cut off from the proper treatment for their true disorder -- because a clinician who hadn't bothered to get to know them very well slapped a haphazard "personality disorder" label on them and it stuck.
May '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
Most disorders are exaggerations of normal conditions. Impulses are classified as disorders when they become frequent, overpowering and (most importantly) harmful. The last quality is often the most controversial to establish or deny.
May '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
I'm sure it's because NPD is rampant at the NYT, so they lobbied to define deviancy down.
Jul '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
But not just the one disorder.
According to the article, the new edition "has eliminated five of the 10 personality disorders that are listed in the current edition." (I haven't been able to locate the other four that are getting the axe, though I'm curious.)
So maybe this isn't a sign of normalizing narcissism, but a sign that the whole idea of "personality disorder" needed an overhaul.
That's the gist of this piece Midge.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-shrink-tank/201002/dsm-v-offers-new-criteria-personality-disorders
Current nuts:
"DSM-IV currently lists ten: paranoid, schizoid, schizotypal, narcissistic, antisocial, borderline, histrionic, avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive"
Nuts who make the new cut:
Instead of the old ten personality types, DSM-V has simplified the system by cutting them down to just five: Antisocial/Psychopathic, Avoidant, Borderline, Obsessive-Compulsive, and Schizotypal types. Each type comes with a narrative paragraph description.
Edited on Dec 1, 2010 at 6:12pmRe: Normalizing Narcissism
Matthew Lawrence: In 1979, historian Christopher Lasch's critique of contemporary American culture, The Culture of Narcissism was published. I have recently read it and was stunned by its prophetic nature. It is, simply, a must read. Here is a link to an essay from early this year on the book by Lee Siegel (whose Against the Machine is also a fascinating look at web-age culture).
I wonder, as a practical matter, what difference it makes if a diagnosis is dropped from the DSM? The less officially recognized "psychological" disorders, the less ready-made excuses. · Dec 1 at 1:07pm
Don't miss Lasch's followup book, called The Minimal Self. I don't agree with Lasch on everything, but he's cooking with gas. And yes, he's the big brain tangentially responsible for Carter's "malaise" speech.
May '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
Looking through that list of disorders, I am sure I have dated at least one example of each.
The DSM has never been the same since they removed homosexuality in 1973. (Yes I am being sardonic, as it should never have been included).
Still I am sure they have since created many more disorders requiring treatment (over- diagnosis of ADHD, or OCD anyone?). As Julius Sumner Miller said "Thus Nature conserves itself".
Edited on Dec 2, 2010 at 4:47amAug '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
James: I am reading Eric Miller's biography of Lasch right now, Hope In A Scattering Time, a review of which I hope to post soon. He was very disappointed with Carter's speech and apparently had nothing more to do with Carter after that.
Lasch was certainly on to something but I have not fully thought out his implications yet. But he appeals to me the same way Wendell Berry, Richard Weaver and the Nashville Agrarians do.
Edited on Dec 2, 2010 at 5:48amMay '10
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
This one really needs comments from Barbara Oakley (who wrote Evil Genes and blogs for Psychology Today despite being an engineering professor.
Re: Normalizing Narcissism
Matthew Lawrence
James: I am reading Eric Miller's biography of Lasch right now, Hope In A Scattering Time, a review of which I hope to post soon. He was very disappointed with Carter's speech and apparently had nothing more to do with Carter after that.
Lasch was certainly on to something but I have not fully thought out his implications yet. But he appeals to me the same way Wendell Berry, Richard Weaver and the Nashville Agrarians do. · Dec 2 at 5:48am
Edited on Dec 02 at 05:48 am
Looking forward! And I have a feeling that if you start a conversation about Wendell Berry -- or at least what's he's all about, since he's still not exactly a household name -- you'll stir up a good one.