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Narcissism and the Narcissistic Defenses in the Eating Disorders

The study of Narcissism and the Narcissistic Defenses in the Eating Disorders was concerned with the correlation between eating pathology and narcissism. Two type of narcissism was observed: core narcissism, having extremely positive self esteem with the delusions of the level and ability of achievement, and narcissistic defenses, defenses that are triggered when self esteem is threatened. Their self esteem is maintained by seeing themselves as misunderstood and a subject to intolerable demands. Two types of narcissistic defenses that were measured with eating pathology were poisonous pedagogy and narcissistically abused. Poisonous pedagogy is one who places blame on others and is overly critical of others inadequacies. The narcissistically abused are those who put others’ needs before theirs yet see themselves as being poorly treated (“poor me”). Two groups were measured: Clinical ( 83 women and one male with the mean age of 28.4) and Non Clinical ( 70 women mean age of 23.2). BMI of groups did not significantly vary. They filled out a questionnaire that was measured by eating characteristic and narcissism levels by the OMNI (O’Brien Multiphasic Narcissism Inventory) and the EDE-Q (Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire). OMNI measures pathological narcissism of narcissistic personality, poisonous pedagogy, and narcissistically abused personality. EDE-Q measures the common eating disorders: restrain, eating concern, body shape concern, and body weight concern. The basic summaries of the questionnaire’s findings were the poisonous pedagogy defenses was related to restrictive mind-set; narcissistically abused defense related to restraint, eating concern, body shape concern, and body weight concern. The only main difference between the groups was the role of core narcissism in the clinical women’s levels of eating concerns. Further research is needed to better understand the relationship approaches in both groups. Valentinesday1986 (talk) 05:08, 6 March 2012 (UTC)

Development and validation of the Childhood Narcissism Scale. Thomaes, Sander; Stegge, Hedy; Bushman, Brad J.; Olthof, Tjeert; Denissen, Jaap

In children, inflated self-views and grandiose feelings, which are characteristics of narcissism, are part of the normal self-development. Children are typically unable to understand the difference between their actual from ideal self, which causes an unrealistic perception of the self. After about age 8, views of self develop both positive and negative, begin to be based on comparisons of peers & become more realistic. Two factors that cause self-view to remain unrealistic are dysfunctional interactions with parents that can be a lack or excessive attention. The child will either compensate for lack of attention or act in terms of unrealistic self-perception. The CNS, Childhood Narcissism Scale, measurements concluded that narcissistic children seek to impress others & gain admiration but do not have any interest in creating sincere friendships. CNS researchers have measured that childhood narcissism has become more prevalent in Western society: any types of activities (raising a child to their education applications), which focus on overly praising the individual, can raise narcissistic levels. More research is needed to find the reasons that promote or protect against narcissism. Narcissistic Personality Disorder<ref

Narcissistic Personality Disorders: The Egotistic Pattern.

There is an importance to having a healthy form of narcissism, which includes characteristics of self-confidence with genuine compassion and awareness of others and relationships, which is opposite to the characteristics of the disorder: insensitivity towards others and continuous unrealistic interpretations about their actual self and false self-perfection. The adult subtypes of narcissism include: The Unprincipled Narcissist, The Amorous Narcissist, The Compensatory Narcissist, and the Elitist Narcissist. The Unprincipled Narcissist is a classic “con men/women”. They enjoy manipulation others for their own personal gain. Antisocial personality characteristics are also prevalent: they lack a sense of guilt, are opportunists, and prey on vulnerable people and get a rise of their problems. They are similar to disingenuous histrionic personality as they cause problems for family and in the legal system. The constant manipulation of others is what feeds into their own self-worth. The Amorous Narcissist build up their self worth with erotic and seductive behavior. They go out of their way to entice their prey and act out their self-indulgent desires and are unconcerned with the other’s feelings. The sexual manipulation only last in short amount of time and they may seem to desire actually intimacy but quickly and easily become unsatisfied when they find it. Other characteristics include: swindling, sexual excesses, pathological lying, fraud, and deceptive all to maintain their bewitching ways. The Compensatory Narcissist constantly compensating for their underlying insecurities and weakness with a high pseudo-confidence, hence “compensatory”. They cover up their feelings of inadequacy with an act of pseudo-arrogance and superficial grandiosity by ridiculing others’ achievements to build up their pseudo-status with an empty series of aspirations. They may be boastful about them but the claims serve no actual purpose other than self-enhancement to convince peers of their self-worth. They portray similar characteristic of negativistic and avoidant personalities. As adults, they seek to make up for deprivations from earlier in life. They may convince those who are naïve to build up their self-worth but their true character is far from sincere.

The Elitist Narcissist is self-assured, arrogant, and energetic. They constantly seek upward mobility by associating themselves with those who posses bona fide achievements. Their superior self-image is grounded by few realistic achievements and often turn personal relationships into public competitions, as self-promotion is all that actually matters to them. Their need to be celebrated and praised is more important to them then actually achieving genuine accomplishments.

Millon, Theodore & Davis Roger D. 1996. Narcissistic Personality Disorders: The Egotistical Pattern. Disorders of Personality DSM-IV and Beyond (409-413). New York.

Pattern change strategies

Sperry,Len.1999) Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Cognitive Behavior Therapy of DMS-IV Personality Disorders. (136-139)Ann Arbor, MI.

Pattern change strategies, over a long period of time, are for the narcissist to work on increasing their ability to become more empathetic in everyday relationships. To help modify their sense of entitlement and self-centeredness schema is to help them identify how to utilize their unique talents and to help others rather than for their own personal gain. This is not going to change their self-perception of their “entitlement” feeling but more so help them empathize with others. Another type of treatment would be temperament change. Anger, rage, impulsivity and impatience can be worked on with skill training. Medication can also be an effective addition if needed. Anxiety disorders and somatoma dysfunctions are prevalent but the most common would be depression. Medication can be extremely beneficial when treating the disorder with regular therapy. Medications to help reduce impulsivity, depression, and anger (along with skilled training) will help the person create interpersonal relationship, less impulsive, less angry, and treat the depression/anxiety. Group treatment has it’s benefits as the effectiveness of receiving peer feedback rather than the clinician’s may be more accepted, but group therapy can also contradiction itself as the patient may show “demandingness, egocentrism, social isolation and withdrawal, and socially deviant behavior.” Relationship therapy stresses the importance of learning and applying four basic interpersonal skills: “effective expression, empathy, discussion and problem solving/conflict resolution.” Marital/relationship therapy is most beneficial when both partners participate.