Narcissism and the Economic Crisis?

In his seminal book the Culture of Narcissism, Christoper Lasch lamented the degree to which the Western Psyche had shifted toward traits that by any measure would be seen as predominantly narcissistic. In spite of his grim assessment and dire warnings, even he would be impressed by how deeply we have plunged into the emptiness of narcissism.

What impact do narcissistic traits and characteristics have in the face of the ongoing economic crisis? First of all grandiosity and denial are common features of the condition which I think can easily be seen as the two horsemen of the apocalypse that lead us down the path to our current situation. How could we have thought that mortgages would magically be paid when there was no evidence of the basic requirements for this to be so? How could a bank offer such a loan and moreover how could a consumer have the hubris to take on the loan? There were powerful financial motivators to be sure. However to participate in that market required quite a bit of denial and a grandiose sense of invincibility. When one examines the Psychology that allows this to occur you can't help but see the shadowy consequences of narcissism on our society.

What is even more interesting to me is to watch how we respond to the current crisis and the degree to which narcissism fosters feelings, which color our response. Another common characteristic of narcissism is a sense of specialness. Well, interestingly enough a common manifestation of this feature that I encounter nearly every day is a panicky sense that the world or at least this country has never seen anything like the current crisis. One needn't be much of a student of history to know how self-absorbed one must be to take such a point of view. The Narcissist is wrought with anxiety and often lacks the healthy skill of turning to others to foster one's ability to regulate overwhelming emotion. The narcissist often misses the sources of nourishment and real meaning in life, our close relationships with other human beings. As such he or she is left emotionally unregulated with a grandiose sense of specialness to buffer anxieties about reality. However, in the current crisis, specialness evokes a sense of catastrophe rather than a more measured response, which can more realistically assess our current crisis in historical context.

I have some hope for the potential of the financial crisis to refocus our priorities. My most sincere hope is that we do get down to the business of recovery but that this historical moment causes us to stop and reflect about what is important in the human experience. It is the people we love and our ability to make a difference in one another's life that gives life its richness and meaning. This message has been passed along in myth and scripture throughout human history. Whether you hearken back to the epics of Gilgamesh finding his way back to serve his kingdom or... it is the other that provides meaning to life. I often ask my addicted patients a philosophical question, which has frequently been asked. If I could render you a brain in a jar and as the brain in the jar use my hypothetic infinite powers to dial in to your brain the perfect existence, would you sign up to do it? Would you agree to be the brain in the jar? Most people would forgo the perfect existence if it meant becoming a brain in a vat. When one examines why this is so one discovers that the primary reason is that you would cease to exist to others. Although as the brain in the jar you would think that others were responding to you the fact is you would not exist to anyone else. Our sense of self and meaning is so tied to others that for us not to actually be a part of the human experience, to exist to others and be of service to them, would cause us to forgo continuous pleasure. In fact pleasure should not be the goal of a flourishing life. Rather a life of meaning, a life of significance and that means a life with others, especially those whom we love.

Dr. Drew Pinsky is a nationally renowned addiction medicine specialist, the host of the popular radio show Loveline and the star of the VH1 hit Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew, its spin-off Sober House and MTV's Sex with Mom and Dad. His new book THE MIRROR EFFECT: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America was recently released.

Comments

[Roseberry]

People with true NPD (narcissistic personality disorder), first of all, are unable to change, and second of all, read the first of all! You can hope all you want to, but it will not happen.
So I think the answer is to get pros like yourself to develop some kind of screening test that is universal -- some kind of way to prevent these people from getting hired into or moved into positions of power. It's bad enough to work with them when they're in regular positions, as it is...

[overcat]

Narcissism and NPD are seriously different. Otherwise well adjusted people can be afflicted with a bit of narcissism while the NPD individual has a personality that is driven by narcissism and little else.

[mcostello]

I don't think he is talking about individuals with NPD, ;but a whole society that has moved the bar so much that 98% of people who take the "narcissistic test" fail it.

[clevelandchick]

Excellent insight Dr. Drew. The narcissism of our society has spiraled out of control to the point we put each other in harms way.

You can tell folks SUV's are extremely dangerous to others on the road due to their bulk and blindspots, that they cause more deadly crashes than any other vehicle but because Holly Soccermom wants HER family to be the safest on the road....to­o bad for you suckers in sedans and compacts. If I had a dollar for every time I've nearly been taken out on the freeway by some 62" soccer mom in an Expedition changing lanes I could bail out AIG.

Our decisions for consuming and living are based solely on our own little orbit and the rest be damned. But that's the rub.....wh­en everyone operates that way it makes all of our lives less safe and less livable. We definitely need a new attitude in this country if we're to survive.

[Snice]

Dr. Drew, watching "Celebrity Rehab" and "Sober House" I am often amazed at the behaviors that seem to stem from "feelings of specialness". I have seen that because of their celebrity, the people on the shows have come to expect a certain treatment. You seem to need to push them but know when to stop. I am bothered though by what they are allowed to get away with and how this reflects on all the facilities that do not cater to celebrities. The narcissism displayed by all addicts is multiplied greatly in people who can seem to do what they want with fewer consequences. I worry that the policies that allow drug use in sober living sends a confusing message to viewers, most of whom are not celebrities and whose behaviors are more strictly judged.

[mcostello]

Dr. Drew,
you should take a look at the book Limits of Power by one of your fellow contributors here, Andrew Basovich. I think you would enjoy a sense of parallelism (it that is a word) with his extremely insightful book about our economy and how borrowing has created this newish concept of what it means to be American. One (of many) of the interesting concepts of the book is that through consumerism we have lost the view what is really important to us as Americans, or further, we need to re-evaluate what it means to us to be Americans before we lose it to greed.

[trailblazer]

I second that. Great book.

[The Meek]

Mr Pinsky,

My question is, how can we keep people with narcissistic personality disorder out of positions of power?

Your average narcissist is just a bore, but the ones controlling politics, religion, education and the media are a danger to the survival of my grandchildren.

[doctorselby]

Excellent post, I respect your work greatly and your patience and humanity with working with difficult folks. Your treatment of narcissism shows the depths of your compassion for others. There is a paradox with narcissim that I have always found fascinating. Although they show a great deal of "hubris" in their acitivities (financial, personal, work etc.), inside there is a malevolent defectiveness that drives their outward behavior. They are driven to over-compensate because of this defective feeling and wound themselves through their inability to balance their interpersonal and working lives. These wounds are then "medicated" through passive self soothing and addictions. Although I hope that our societal narcissism is "tempered" by this crisis I am doubtful. As long as we as a society value and reward overcompensated acheivement and imbue this through early parenting we will struggle with severe narcissistic themes. Of course the other pathway is through abusive and neglectful parenting which creates a sense of defectiveness that has a staying power that is unmatched (except for at times from an accepting and compassionate provider such as your self). At the end, all that I hope for is one life changed through dialing down expectation, loss of self, and rewarded over-acheivement.

[MissKaren]

I don't know if anyone here has read the decades-old book, "The Gamesman," by someone named Macoby but it discusses the way personality affects ways of governance in corporations. This article reminds me a little of that.

[provgrays]

This has always been a consumer culture and technology has added narcissism to that description.

Texting and Tweeter is pure narcissism. "Here's what I'm thinking. This is what I am doing right now."

In the better times, Americans wanted more. In the current bad times, we want to keep the luxuries that we now think of as necessities. Ours is not an introspective nation and so many younger people relate to machines more intimately than they ever will to other human beings.

Yours is a fine wish. Largely, that's all it is. Tne preoccupation with self leaves little room for anyone else. I'm so glad I'm too old to text or Twitter.

[lgreene]

Great thoughts, Dr. Drew.

I remember taking a class in Political Psychology in my undergrad days (1980's) where we were assigned to read Lasch's "Culture of Narcissim". Already, at that time, I was on track to being a "loser" by so many of society's standards--I didn't want to be big money maker, have lots of stuff, dump my kids in daycare to work 16 hour days in some corporation. After reading that book, I finally felt like the old fashioned, middle class values my parents taught me were not only valid, but as a supervisor in a social service agency, it has been my mission in life to help others--clients and staff alike--to also connect to what's important in their lives--compassion for others, connection to family and community, caring for our planet.

More and more, I am encountering people who are sick and tired of the self-centered materialistic path our country has been on, and who are opting out, to live simpler, more meaningful lives. We want little or no debt, time to live in the present, communities where we can stay in connection with each other and help one another if needed. All I can say is keep on talking about this issue of narcisissim, because it is at the root of much of the misery we see in the world today.

[TheDopeSack]

Realignment of values in society invariably triggers emotional demand for change and in todays economy we can expect more emotions to capture the public's attention in areas of directly affecting our scarce resources. I'm confident that greed plays a larger part in the financial health of our country and in our communities than does narcissism. While narcissism plays a large role in those who televise the suffering of addicts and making tons of money off the "business of recovery" it's the leaders at companies like Beckman Consulting Worldwide, who have public health and safety as priority instead of greed for money and egobuilding, who oppose the greed AND narcissistic drive behind marketing Recovery as a business. Let's shift the paradigm now. While there is a business side to Treatment, Recovery is a phase of life connecting our past addiction to a peaceful, meaningful end to our life cycle. Televising any phase of treatment is a flagrant violation of an addict's emotional and mental safety. If the public is dissuaded or distracted by claims about recovery being a business then addicts will keep suffering because the resource commitment today for improving addiction treatment is egregious in public and private funding structures. Let's realign our values, stop televising addiction, and commit every nickel that is made from the public's morbid sense of curiosity via television and open more treatment centers for those who can't afford to get help. Stop predatory marketing designed to generate money from the suffering caused by a disease.

[StupideAmericans]

I'm sure Bernie Madoff seems very real to a whole lot of people right now.

[ReealOne]

Excellent article Dr. Drew, and very wise. I hope that we will get to read a lot more of your words of wisdom. Lord knows that during these times, we need all of the understanding of why, where, when and how, we can get from level headed folks.

[NoExpertsNeeded]

Paraphrasing the saying, I agree that a person's character is measured by how they handle a crisis. Maybe character can also be measured by how well they keep themselves out of a crisis. If we apply that to society as a whole, I just have to hope upon hope that the silver lining to all of this is that the younger generations learn how not to arrive here again. Maybe if we teach those that follow us how to find and focus on (their) meaning in life, they will be better equipped to handle most any crisis that lay ahead.
"No Experts Needed: The Meaning of Life According to You!"
FREE download at: www.noexpe­rtsneeded dot com

[jugganaut]

The folks who lived through the Depression would in all likelihood scoff at the suggestion that this is the worst crisis the country has ever seen.

[antaeus]

You mean when 3% were in the stock market versus today's 60%? Ouch! Let's hope you're right!

[clevelandchick]

That's an excellent point antaeus. My parents were in the market and they both lived in poverty during the Depression.

A bunch of charismatic narcissists on Wall Street wanted to find a way to play with everyone's money, not just that of the rich, so they came up with 401K's as a way for the middle-class to pour their money into the market via mutual funds.

The problem is too many of us (including myself and my parents) were suckered into thinking the market was a "smart" investment. What these financial geniuses failed to tell us was if you were about to retire and the market tanked you'd lose most of your savings. They never told us we were literally gambling with our retirement.

[politicalpopcorn]

Dr. Drew does a great job! Very professional - here's a clip of his visit with Glenn Beck - http://www.politicalpopcorn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=304:dr-drew-on-glenn-beck&catid=11:other-videos

[ReealOne]

Oh, so then Glenn Beck has accepted that something is wrong with him, and he is in need of some heavy-duty Sober House type help? He's got "something" really wrong with him, and as capable as Dr. Drew is, I dont think that he can "handle" Glenn Beck alone. No.... Glenn Beck needs a whole team of Psych Drs., maybe 30 or 40 of them, studying him around the clock, who can perscribe some heavy-duty psychothropic drugs, so that they can try to analyze what's wrong with him. Just saying.

I really love watching Dr. Drew do his thing. It is obvious that he does care about his patients, not by "doing the work for them", but by allowing them to make the choice of "wanting and needing" to be helped. Just the way it should always be. Thanks Dr. Drew.