Friday, June 3, 2011

Narcissism is being eliminated?

A couple of weeks ago, D sent me the following bit of information:

The next edition of the DSM will eliminate narcissistic
personality as a disorder. That's because it has become so ordinary. Yet the
Mayo Clinic Web site notes: "When you have narcissistic personality
disorder...you may belittle or look down on people you perceive as
inferior...you may insist on having the best of everything--the best car,
athletic club, medical care or social circles." What is certain is that altruism
is impossible; a certain contempt for others is glorified. I see this so clearly
in Wife's treatment of you; her manipulation of you and indifference to your
emotions and feelings is symptomatic of a disorder that, left undiscussed and
untreated, threatens to undermine the very fabric of community.

Gosh, really? Can a whole diagnosis simply disappear, just because everyone suffers from it? Somehow that sounds a little bit like asking, "If all your friends jumped off a cliff, are you the one who is certifiably nuts by refusing to jump too?"

And has anybody told Alone about this, over at The Last Psychiatrist? Just wondering what he'll find to write about, if narcissism up and disappears ....

1 comment:

Ms. Inconspicuous said...

Where is she getting this info from?

The DSM V official update site (www.dsm5.org) doesn't show it, it merely mentions expanding the categorizations of NPD:

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevision/Pages/PersonalityDisorders.aspx

And then:

http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevision/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=19