You’re no doubt aware that in just three days time we’ll be shooting our forth feature film ‘NARCISSIST’, but what exactly is a Narcissist? Well luckily for you I’ve been doing some intense research on the subject:
NPD: Narcissistic personality disorder is defined by “The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” as having the following symptoms: a high sense of self-importance, a need to be looked at and admired, a tendency to go into a rage with little cause, a habit of treating others with indifference and fantasies of unlimited fame, power and success.
NPD is thought to be caused by childhood emotional abuse or trauma, which brought about intense feelings of emptiness, inferiority and shame. The narcissist creates a “false self” to interact with the world that shamed him, and narcissistic attitudes and behavior are an overcompensation to negative feelings. The narcissist’s life, therefore, is a never-ending battle to prove worthiness and counteract the earlier shaming messages.
Narcissistic behavior knows no bounds, can be the harbinger of academic or athletic achievement, creating great works of art or collecting them, status symbols, womanizing or anything else that can arouse envy in others.
Narcissus was a character in Greek myth. A beautiful young man, he rejected all potential lovers and eventually became enraptured with his own reflection in a pool. Modern use of the term ‘Narcissist’ refers to a person who is in love with themselves, especially with their own physical appearance. The narcissist expresses this self-love through out of control egotism, self-importance, vanity and conceit. Like the psychopath, narcissists tend to lack empathy for others, seeing them as tools to further their own ambitions.
A Narcissist:
– Seeks to create an illusion of superiority and build an image of high self-worth – Has disturbances in the capacity for empathy (Forman); – Strives for recognition/prestige to compensate for the lack of a feeling of self-worth; – May acquire a deprecatory attitude in which the achievements of others are ridiculed and degraded (Millon); – Has persistent aspirations for glory and status (Millon); – Has a tendency to exaggerate and boast (Millon); – Is sensitive to how others react to him or her, watches and listens carefully for critical judgment, and feels slighted by disapproval (Millon); – Is prone to feel shamed and humiliated and especially hyper-anxious and vulnerable to the judgments of others (Millon); – Covers up a sense of inadequacy and deficiency with pseudo-arrogance and pseudo-grandiosity (Millon); – Has a tendency to periodic hypochondria (Forman); – Alternates between feelings of emptiness and deadness and states of excitement and excess energy (Forman); – Entertains fantasies of greatness, constantly striving for perfection, genius, or stardom (Forman); – Has a history of searching for an idealized partner and has an intense need for affirmation and confirmation in relationships (Forman); – Frequently entertains a wishful, exaggerated, and unrealistic concept of himself or herself which he or she can’t possibly measure up to (Reich); – Produces (too quickly) work not up to the level of his or her abilities because of an overwhelmingly strong need for the immediate gratification of success (Reich); – Is touchy, quick to take offense at the slightest provocation, continually anticipating attack and danger, reacting with anger and fantasies of revenge when he or she feels frustrated in his or her need for constant admiration (Reich); – Is self-conscious, due to a dependence on approval from others (Reich); – Suffers regularly from repetitive oscillations of self-esteem (Reich); – Seeks to undo feelings of inadequacy by forcing everyone’s attention and admiration upon himself or herself (Reich); – May react with self-contempt and depression to the lack of fulfillment of his or her grandiose expectations (Riso).
So you have all of that to look forward to when ‘NARCISSIST’ is finally released!
