NARCISSISTIC SUPPLY: Attention & Admiration Seeking, Toxic Personality, NPD
(~ A personality type that can be draining and damaging, we had one as a co-worker. Run, don't walk away from this type. Thanks to the DUer who mentioned this term I was unfamiliar with until recently). NPD, aka 'Megalomania.'
- (Wiki). In psychoanalytic theory, Narcissistic supply is a pathological or excessive need for attention or admiration from codependents, or such a need in the orally fixated, that does not take into account the feelings, opinions or preferences of other people. The concept was introduced by Otto Fenichel in 1938, to describe a type of admiration, interpersonal support or sustenance drawn by an individual from his or her environment and essential to their self-esteem.
..A childhood loss of essential supplies was for Fenichel key to a depressive disposition, as well as to a tendency to seek compensatory narcissistic supplies thereafter. Impulse neuroses, addictions including love addiction and gambling were all seen by him as products of the struggle for supplies in later life. Psychoanalyst Ernst Simmel (1920) had earlier considered neurotic gambling as an attempt to regain primitive love and attention in an adult context.
- Personality disorders
Psychoanalyst Otto Kernberg considered the malignant narcissistic criminal to be coldly characterised by a disregard of others unless they could be idealised as sources of narcissistic supply. Self psychologist Heinz Kohut saw those with narcissistic personality disorder as disintegrating mentally when cut off from a regular source of narcissistic supply. Those providing supply to such figures may be treated as if they are a part of the narcissist, in an eclipse of all personal boundaries.
- 'Narcissus' painting by Caravaggio, gazing at his own image, c. 1597-1599.
- Functions in narcissistic pathology
In their adolescence, the narcissist internalises a "bad" recipient (usually their parent). They regard feelings that are socially discouraged towards this recipient, including types of aggression such as hatred and envy, among others. These perceptions reinforce the self-image of the narcissist as immoral and corrupt. They eventually create a feeling of self-worth that is dysfunctional. Their self-confidence and self-image become unrealistically low and distorted.
In an attempt to repress these "bad" feelings, the narcissist also suppresses all emotions. Their aggression is channeled into fantasies or outlets that are socially lawful like extreme sports, gambling, reckless driving, and shopping. The narcissist sees the environment as a place that is hostile, unstable, unfulfilling, morally wrong, and unpredictable.
Narcissists generally have no inherent or "built-in" sense of self-worth; therefore, they rely on other people, via attention or narcissistic supply. It is done to re-affirm their importance in order to feel good about themselves and keep up or maintain their self-esteem. It is then turning others into operations or objects in such a way that they do not pose any emotional threat. This reactive pattern is pathological narcissism.
The narcissist projects a false self to elicit a constant stream of attention or narcissistic supply from others. The false self is an unreal façade or cover they show to the world that involves what the narcissist intends to be seen as - powerful, elegant, smart, wealthy, or well-connected. The narcissist then 'collects' reactions to this projected false self from their environment, which may consist of their spouse, family, friends, colleagues, business partners, and peers. If the expected narcissistic supply (adulation, admiration, attention, fear, respect, applause, or affirmation) is not anticipated – they are demanded or extorted by the narcissist. Money, compliments, a media appearance, a sexual conquest are all merely different forms of the same thing to a narcissist - narcissistic supply.
- Sources
The attention they receive from the "supply source" is essential to the narcissist's survival, without it they would die (physically or metaphorically) because it depends on their fragile ego to handle their unstable self-esteem. There are distinctive forms of narcissistic supply to attain them with two separate sources. Scholars and researchers generally recognise two main kinds of narcissistic supply: primary, acquired through more publicly directed forms of attention, and secondary, generally acquired through attention attained through interpersonal relationships.
- Primary
The primary narcissistic supply is based on attention in both its public forms such as recognition, fame, infamy, stardom, and its private, more interpersonal, types of praise, admiration, applause, fear, and repulsion. It is crucial to realise that the primary narcissistic supply represents the attention of any kind–positive or negative. Their "realisations" may be imaginary, fictional, or only evident to the narcissist, as long as others believe in them. Appearances qualify more than the content; it is not the truth that matters, but their perception of it. Therefore, as long as they receive the expected reaction or attention that they had projected through their false self, the connotation attached to it is inconsequential.....More, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_supply
_________________
- (wiki). Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder characterized by a long-term pattern of exaggerated feelings of self-importance, an excessive need for admiration, and a lack of empathy toward other people. People with NPD often spend much time thinking about achieving power and success, or on their appearance. Typically, they also take advantage of the people around them. Such narcissistic behavior typically begins by early adulthood, and occurs across a broad range of situations.
The causes of narcissistic personality disorder are unknown. The condition of NPD is included in the cluster B personality disorders in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). A diagnosis of NPD is made by a healthcare professional interviewing the person in question. The condition of NPD should be differentiated from mania and substance use disorder.
Treatments for narcissistic personality disorder have not been well studied. Therapy is difficult, because people with narcissistic personality disorder usually do not consider themselves to have a mental health problem. About one percent of people are believed to be affected with NPD at some point in their lives.
It occurs more often in men than women, and typically affects younger as opposed to older people. The narcissistic personality was first described by the psychoanalyst Robert Waelder, in 1925; and the term narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) was coined by Heinz Kohut, in 1968...More, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissistic_personality_disorder
*More, Narcissism Basics Psychology Today, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/narcissism
= new reply since forum marked as read
