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DazedandConfused254
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Default Apr 29, 2019 at 01:58 PM
  #1
Here is an interesting thread for all of you guys interested in mental health topics and those hurt by narcissists.

With selfies becoming all the more widespread, and “if you have it flaunt it” attitudes blurring the life stories of people featured on social media, I have noticed an equally strong backlash from previous generations, especially, my parents, scoffing at “narcissism”. I’ve even left Facebook in light of feeling inadequacy in my singleness with seemingly more successful dating/social lives being rubbed in my face. In my experience this is just one of several instances where I've detected pressure to conform.

Using a generalized, dictionary definition of “narcissism” this would increase the instances of Narcissistic Personality Disorder right? In my pensive moments I’ve determined that surely there’s more to real narcissism than just taking hundreds of selfies at an exotic destination or showing off your social media or YouTube profile. Albeit at the same time I’m pondering if this cultural atmosphere is the breeding ground for narcissism, both in its literal and psychological sense.

What is the difference between narcissism and NPD?

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sarahsweets
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Default Apr 29, 2019 at 02:59 PM
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I dont know the difference but I think all people could have traits of narcissism given the right circumstances. Take teenagers and adolescence for example...an extremely self centered and narcissistic period in life. My one daughter must have hundreds of selfies and thos stupid snapchat filters that give you that silly chisled face with the overly large eyes and tiny nose. My youngest has her first boyfriend and she is a good kid and so is the boy but all she can think about is what "gabe would think of xyz" and when can "gabe come over". He was over a few days ago and I texted her to help me with the groceries being that I had surgery and she barely came down in time and I had only like 2 bags left. When I was in my early 20's and still in college as a theater minor I cared how I seemed to others and what people thought about my stage work. Maybe its indulgence due to a lack of extreme strife? Most of us are not living in the streets with no food or money and nearly everyone has a phone. So maybe its too much empty time?

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Default Apr 29, 2019 at 04:49 PM
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Everyone has to have some narcissism to survive so we all have some. In that alone some people will express some symptoms of being more than expected but that doesn't mean that person is NPD/ disordered where they are completely selfish and controlling with no empathy at all.
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Default Apr 30, 2019 at 09:03 AM
  #4
I always thought they were the identical thing. We describe a person with the adjective of narcissism, but if diagnosed that same person would have a NPD. Interesting topic.
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Default Apr 30, 2019 at 09:59 AM
  #5
Based on my reading, I'd say that narcissism exists along a continuum. We all fall somewhere on that continuum. All humans live with some level of narcissism....we need it to survive. If we literally never took care of ourselves and tried to subsist only for others, we would become very ill and die. There's likely an evolutionary component to narcissism. Some folks will have more or less empathy so their degrees of narcissism will differ. The extreme on the continuum would be narcissistic personality disorder.

Are there higher rates of NPD now among millennials compared with prior generations? I honestly don't know any numbers on that but I'd say it's unlikely. Take a look at politics and politicians from various generations....they are quite a good example of the recurring problematic traits we see in the human species....down the generations in politics we have seen plenty of adultery and lying and scandals regardless of the generation right? Those folks probably fell higher on the narcissism scale....I imagine many of them were living with NPD. NPD is not a new phenomenon, people are just becoming more aware of it and in some cases people are misunderstanding it. One selfish act (or even a few) does not equal NPD.

The selfie trend...I don't really understand it because I didn't grow up in that generation. And PC is the only form of social media I use. I don't think taking a lot of selfies or frequently posting on Facebook warrants a NPD label. One thing of note in the millennial research is that they tend to have quite low self-esteem as a group (based on undergrad uni studies)....the "everybody gets a trophy" movement was actually damaging because humans don't develop true self-esteem by being told we are great at everything when we aren't. "Helicopter parenting" also stunts growth and creates a lot of problems but remember that the helicopter parents are not millennials....that's fascinating to me. I wonder what led those parents to interact with their children in that way? I have friends in their 40s and 50s who treat their 20-something children as though they are 8-12 yr olds. I was not raised that way, it's very different. Worth exploring how it came to be. And helpful to think about when we feel like judging the immature behaviors of millennials.

Many millennials exhibit a strong social conscience about the environment and other issues that I can't mention because it's against guidelines to discuss politics. A notable social conscience does not correlate with a high level of narcissism so we should give them some credit.

Each generation will make comparisons and assume that their "time" was better or healthier or safer etc. It's a bias. I recently heard someone lamenting the "new" trend of bigotry and violence?? What about what happened to the African peoples, Native Americans, Aborigines, the Irish, the Jews...I could go on. For as long as there were humans, there has been narcissism and tribalism and war and there has also been compassion and love and understanding. We perpetually oscillate between darkness and light. I think the most important part is to include ourselves in that group and not assume that we are "good" and others are "bad" or "less than." Words like "toxic" and "malignant" and "monster" are being thrown around a lot in society now. I don't think those are helpful ways to describe humans beings. If we encounter someone with a problematic level of narcissism, we can draw a line and wish them peace. There are always reasons why people behave as they do.

Last edited by Anonymous44076; Apr 30, 2019 at 10:12 AM..
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Default May 01, 2019 at 06:19 PM
  #6
I just have to comment on selfies. Many people take selfies because when they go places there is no one to take a pic of them but themselves, or other people take bad pictures or get annoyed being asked to take a picture. When we travel and take selfies of us doing things because we want a pic together but there is no one with us to take a picture. Or other people have horrible photo taking skills. We’d rather not have heads chopped off lol

I don’t believe selfies have any link to narcissism. It’s just a convenient phone feature. I don’t see what’s the big deal. And I am not millennial. Lol I am in my 50s. My dad takes selfies and he is in his 80s. It’s just basic tech feature
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Default Jun 08, 2019 at 07:59 AM
  #7
All people should have a healthy dose of narcissism . The good confidence building kind. The difference in NPD and narcissistic traits is the inability to feel empathy. Then there are many degrees/ types of the disorder. You cannot lump it into " one bag" so to speak.
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