An Examination of Narcissism Hidden Under the Mask of Depression A common misconception about mental illness is that the sufferer is exaggerating or making it all up. But what if this misconception was actually true in some cases? What if the sufferer didn’t have depression but was instead trapped in the cage of her own egotism? David Foster Wallace explores this concept in his short story The Depressed Person. In the story, the depressive girl works desperately to cope with her daily life that gets worse after the untimely death of her therapist. On the surface, The Depressed Person tells the story of a girl struggling with depression, however it actually tells the story of a girl suffering with intense, uncontrollable narcissism. Initially, The Depressed Person looks like the typical story of a girl with extreme …show more content…
She is begging to a “trusted and convalescing friend,” to tell the depressed girl the “brutally honest opinion of her as a person.” (Wallace 66) She is paralyzed in fear of what the friend might say about her, what her true opinion of the girl actually is. In this moment, the girl comes to a startling revelation about herself; she feels nothing for anyone but herself. She’s crying to her friend about her own personal problems, ignorant that her “best friend” is suffering from a “virulent malignancy in her adrenal medulla” and is vomiting in the toilet. (Wallace 68) The depressed person is finally aware of her blatant narcissism to a degree, that the despair and sadness she was feeling for her therapist’s death was only for herself. Yet, the narcissism that the depressed person has restricts her from seeing past herself and her needs and to care about others. The depressed person is unable to care about her friend with neuroblastoma, she only cares about the pain and fear that she herself is in. She is stuck in her narcissism and is unable to get
William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies”, is said to be one of the best representations of good and evil in human nature. Jack Meriden is the protagonist who represents the violence and immorality. When Jack feels threatened he displays anger and extreme insecurity. All of his actions are a reflection of an insecure child who feels threatened and clearly displays of symptoms of Narcissistic Personality Disorder and displays Psychopathic Tendencies. He reacts to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation.
Here the boy lay down, weary both from his zealous hunting and because of the heat, drawn to the beauty of the place and the fountain. While he was eager to slake his thirst, another thirst grew, and while he drank, he was seized by the image of a figure he saw, and he loved a discarnate dream. He thought that which is a shadow is a body. He was enthralled with himself, and, with his face still, he stared at that same face, just like a statue made of Parian marble. Seated on the ground he observed his eyes, twin stars, and his hair worthy of both Bacchus and Apollo, his youthful cheeks and ivory neck, the beauty of his face and its blushing mixed with snowy whiteness, and he marveled at everything for which he himself is remarkable: unsuspecting,
Her days are spent bedridden after an unknown trauma forces her husband to prescribe “rest cures” as the antidote. During this time period, women were dehumanized to an object that was to be seen and not heard. Resistance during this era was futile, so whatever a man deemed worthy of a woman’s doing, she permitted to do so. “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assure friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency- what one to do?” (Gilman 126) Although nothing is specifically identified in the story, this woman is suffering from post-partum depression and delirium. There is no baby to be found in the story, so one may assume a miscarriage or a stillborn death. This initial period of isolation is a key factor in helping the narrator identify truly with herself, for she starts to question the actions of the people around her who are pleading their merit through their absence. This negligence, this abuse helped to mold the mindset that she has been forced to create due to the lack of communication between doctor and patient. Feminism comes into play when the gender of the patient compromises treatment. Due to the severity of this trauma which was kept on an extremely low profile, this woman was not able to properly grieve for her lost
We all love ourselves. That seems to be such a true statement that we do not bother to look it as a possible disorder. A person who loves himself is one thing but one who loves his reflection is another. A healthy person will love himself and his accomplishments. That person is all around happy and satisfied with himself. On the other hand one who is in love with his reflection is cause for narcissism. One who depends on the existence of a reflection to produce the emotion of self-love. It also makes it impossible for the person to tell himself what is reality or what is fantasy. The narcissist does possess the desire to love and to be loved. If he cannot love himself, he has love his reflection. Narcissist are five (or more) of the following:
When one speaks of narcissism, often the image of a self-absorbed and self-aggrandizing, but overly sensitive person comes to mind. Some features of a narcissistic personality may make it seem like having confidence, however, it crosses the border from healthy confidence to putting yourself on a pedestal. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V) people who suffer from the pathological form of narcissism, Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD), possess an exaggerated sense of importance, believe they are superior or special, expect special treatment, and/or set goals based on obtaining approval from others. The criteria for NPD includes a sense of entitlement, lack of empathy, and a need for personal gain
What happens when Narcissism takes over a generation? Is that generation the only generation who is affected? A narcissistic generation does not happen on it 's own. Majority of Millennial 's characteristics are negative but not entirely negative. However, Generation Me only values themselves. Their overemphasis on self-esteem is well intentioned but often leads to narcissism. Both terms can be avoided with proper treatment.
The story of Christopher McCandless is that of an over-ambitious youth trying to find himself. Chris’ story, as told in detail in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, ended tragically in his death within the Alaskan wilderness many months after running away from home with no contact to his family. In Krakauer’s work, he recounts interactions between Chris during his travels and multiple strangers. In this, one may conclude that Christopher McCandless is simply a reckless narcissist, who is selfish and privileged enough to think he can do and get away with whatever he wants. This is, in an emotional analysis, incorrect. Chris was subject to a severe Icarus complex, his ambitions being more than his body and life can handle. He refuses to contact his
A statement from “A Memoir of Darkness” which struck out to me (as an objective observer) and which I would like to conclude this responsive paper with regard to an ‘outsiders’ inability to understand the devastation of depression (and perhaps may be generalized to other mental illness as well) is that: “…Such incomprehensiveness [relating to understanding depression] has usually been due not to a failure of sympathy, but to the basic inability of people to imagine a form of torment so alien to every day experiences.” Need more be said?
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a mental disorder classified in the Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as one of the major personality disorders. Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as defined by the DSM-V, is the “pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy” that typically begins by early adulthood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Those individuals who suffer with narcissistic personality disorder often have an inflated sense of self-importance while also displaying other characteristics. Individuals who exhibit five or more of the following traits are often diagnosed with the personality disorder: “(a) a grandiose sense of self-importance; (b) preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; (c) beliefs of being special and unique; (d) requirements of excessive admiration; (e) a sense of entitlement; (f) interpersonal exploitativeness; (g) lack of empathy; (h) envy of others; and (i) arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes” (Skodel, Bender, & Morey, 2013). Those who display these traits often display them in socially stressful ways that affect their relationships with others and interferes with their professional and personal lives.
Perkins describes a rocky relationship between her narrator and her husband. John has a respectable social position as a doctor and is therefore put in a position of authority. This is made clear in the lines: “If a physician of high standing...assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression…what is one to do?” (Perkins 76) Perkins puts her narrator in a position in which she is surrounded by male authority figures who restrict her will and social nature. Perkins makes it clear that social rules, which the narrator's husband attempts to protect, are responsible for aggravating her illness. From the choice of room to expression of her own feelings, the narrator is consistently denied the chance to act upon her own desires and to have them validated by the people around her. The sense of both duty towards and dependency on her husband is a dominate theme in the story. Mental illness is both denied and caused by the social relations of which she does get to participate.
Narcissistic personality disorder is condition where an affected person has a superiority complex, or elevated feeling of self worth. These people do not experience much empathy for others, and often suffer problems in social situations such as work, or relationships. In contrast to the grandiosity they may present, under the surface these individuals have very a fragile self confidence and are easily hurt by criticism.
People in this world have many different struggles. Some deal with chronic pain, others with poverty and some even with the consequences of their bad choices. Numerous individuals also struggle with mental illness also known as various disorders that affect mood, personality, cognition and other areas of functioning. Mental illness is unique to the individual and can be experienced in a variety of ways. Three people that have experienced mental illness and all that it entails are Susanna Kaysen the author of the memoir Girl, Interrupted, John Nash-a mathematician whose life was the basis of the film A Beautiful Mind and a woman named Theresa Lozowski who is a medical professional. All three struggle with a mental illness and the way they view their illnesses and the aspects of it are similar in several ways as well as different. These similarities and differences are witnessed in how they view their symptoms, their diagnoses, how they view the cause of their mental illness as well as how they view mental illness in general. There were also similarities and differences in their views on taking medication as well as the treatment of psychotherapy.
Recent research has uncovered that the Millennial Generation are more Narcissistic than previous generations (Orr et al., 2009). Narcissistic Personality Disorder is “identified by the presence of grandiose self-importance...” (Bender, 2012). Narcissists tend to see themselves as being intelligent, powerful, physically attractive, special and unique, and they expect special treatment from others while believing they owe nothing in return (McKinney, Kelly & Duran, 2012; Orr et al., 2009). Alongside this increase of Narcissistic behaviour, there has also been an increase in usage of social networking sites (SNSs) (Orr et al., 2009). SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter have been growing at an exponential rate, particularly Facebook, which is currently
Narcissism in the Workplace Have you ever had the pleasure of working with an individual who was completely full of themselves? This person loved to be the center of attention and the topic of every subject, had extravagant dreams and considered themselves to be a person of many talents. This same person believed that they were a better leader than you would ever be and had no problem telling you that. He or she thought that the best way to gain the admiration of others and receive confirmation of their authority was by “talking down” to those who threaten them. The qualities that I mentioned are all common traits of a narcissist.
Which he nodded agreeing with her. As the protagonist lays in her bed, after washing down a hand full of pills she leaves a note for her significant other which states “Keep your promise. Don’t have me revived”(229). Gordimer is able to illustrate situational irony, because the protagonist has such a strong bond with her significant other that she believes that he will not break their trust. Although she is suffering from this terminal illness which is a daily reminder in her life, that their trust is like no other and she believes that since he has promised that he would follow through and allow her to die with peace. After the protagonist commits suicide she is believed to be in a deep sleep, where she wakes. “Her eyelids were rosey blinds through which light glowed. She opened them. . . There was a hand in hers; his” (229). Gordimer illustrates that although the protagonist, her significant other promised that he would not have her revived, but he did so anyways. Because although she believes that she is suffering from an incurable terminal illness, his love for her will not allow him to let her go. Within the power of love that they both share as she wakes she couldn’t be mad at him cause through it all he was always by her