<
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-narcissist-in-your-life/201910/is-narcissism-treatable>
"Elinor Greenberg isn't your average Manhattan psychologist. She works with
clients who have one of the most combative, challenging conditions on the human
mental map—narcissistic personality disorder (NPD). Entrenched and notoriously
difficult to treat, NPD is characterized by arrogant grandiosity, a lack of
empathy, and an often savage defensiveness driven by underlying shame and
emotional instability."
Via Muse, who wrote:
"Theatre, even in the small independent end, attracts people with both overt
and covert narcissism. This is how I experienced the distinction between these
types of narcissism. As a director part of my job is to give the actors “notes”
in order to help improve their performances.I may also pass on some reminders
of good behaviour. It’s not always worth sending the same message to each
individual actor, and I don’t want them to take it too personally. So, I send a
general friendly heads up.
Let’s say I send a message that actors need to remember to hang up their
costumes after each performance. It’s easy to forget, but it’s something that
needs to be done. Here are the NPD responses.
Covert: I haven’t done anything wrong. Why are you blaming me?
(They may indeed have done nothing wrong, but assume all messages are about
them)
Overt: Heh! Why does the director bother sending me these things. I don’t do
anything wrong.
(They may be the worst culprit, but reality bends around them so that they are
never responsible)
Now, think about the sorts of responses people give to Black Lives Matter or
when talking about Toxic Masculinity, or any other issue of concern. I can and
have felt a lot of compassion for the events and experiences that can make
people susceptible to turning to NPD. The problem is that they are not
rescuable. Once in a very long while they rescue themselves (technically,
that’s what all therapy sessions are about), but they are so manipulative that
it is sometimes hard to know when they are genuine. Bullies were usually
bullied as children. The best thing we can do to stop the cycle is to provide
the sort of culture that makes the process of someone turning into a bully less
likely. When everyone is feeling the pressure of survival, and seem to be
surrounded by corruption, we end up living in an everyone for themselves
society…and therefore creating growing numbers of toxic individuals."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
