An Examination of Narcissism Hidden Under the Mask of Depression A common misconception about mental illness is that the sufferer is exaggerating or making it all up. But what if this misconception was actually true in some cases? What if the sufferer didn’t have depression but was instead trapped in the cage of her own egotism? David Foster Wallace explores this concept in his short story The Depressed Person. In the story, the depressive girl works desperately to cope with her daily life that gets worse after the untimely death of her therapist. On the surface, The Depressed Person tells the story of a girl struggling with depression, however it actually tells the story of a girl suffering with intense, uncontrollable narcissism. Initially, The Depressed Person looks like the typical story of a girl with extreme …show more content…
She is begging to a “trusted and convalescing friend,” to tell the depressed girl the “brutally honest opinion of her as a person.” (Wallace 66) She is paralyzed in fear of what the friend might say about her, what her true opinion of the girl actually is. In this moment, the girl comes to a startling revelation about herself; she feels nothing for anyone but herself. She’s crying to her friend about her own personal problems, ignorant that her “best friend” is suffering from a “virulent malignancy in her adrenal medulla” and is vomiting in the toilet. (Wallace 68) The depressed person is finally aware of her blatant narcissism to a degree, that the despair and sadness she was feeling for her therapist’s death was only for herself. Yet, the narcissism that the depressed person has restricts her from seeing past herself and her needs and to care about others. The depressed person is unable to care about her friend with neuroblastoma, she only cares about the pain and fear that she herself is in. She is stuck in her narcissism and is unable to get
The story of Christopher McCandless is that of an over-ambitious youth trying to find himself. Chris’ story, as told in detail in Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, ended tragically in his death within the Alaskan wilderness many months after running away from home with no contact to his family. In Krakauer’s work, he recounts interactions between Chris during his travels and multiple strangers. In this, one may conclude that Christopher McCandless is simply a reckless narcissist, who is selfish and privileged enough to think he can do and get away with whatever he wants. This is, in an emotional analysis, incorrect. Chris was subject to a severe Icarus complex, his ambitions being more than his body and life can handle. He refuses to contact his
Melinda Sordino was just a young teenage girl trying to have some fun. Now, she is loathed by afar for something nobody understands. During a summer party, Melinda drunkenly fumbled for the phone and dialed the cops. As she enters her freshman year of high school, her friends refuse to talk to her, and she escapes into the dark forests of her mind. “I am Outcast” (Anderson 4). But something about that party was not right. Something she tried not to relive but to forget. “I have worked so hard to forget every second of that stupid party, and here I am in the middle of a hostile crowd that hates me for what I had to do. I can’t tell them what really happened. I can’t even look at that part of myself” (Anderson 28). Depression is a serious mental disorder. The duration and symptoms vary from person to person, and some even have a genetic inclination to develop this illness (Bruce). Depression is not simply a chemical imbalance but a disease caused by several factors.
A narcissist is one who believes “he or she is ‘special’ and unique and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special” people. They exploit others for their own advantage, lack empathy, and are “preoccupied with fantasies” or ideals that can be unrealistic. They believe they are the “primary importance in everybody’s life”. (“Narcissistic Personality”) Henry James’ theme in his short story, “The Beast in the Jungle”, is about a man, who is so egotistical and self-absorbed that he misses what life has to offer him, in particular, love, because of the narcissistic behavior he is doomed to live a life of loneliness and misery. John Marcher, the protagonist of “The Beast in the Jungle”, is about a narcissistic upper-class man who believes his life is to be defined by some unforetold event. He focuses only on himself and as a result, he neglects everything and everyone in his life. Marcher meets May Bartram, a woman who knows his secret, and instead of pursuing a romantic relationship with her, or even a genuine friendship, he uses her for his own benefit. Henry James utilizes a variety of literary devices to convey this theme in his story, such as the title, symbolism, dialogue, and the use of a limited third-person narrative. Henry James leaves us our first clue to the theme in the title, “The Beast in the Jungle”. When one thinks of a beast, they typically imagine something big and ferocious; Marcher’s ego was just that.
She continually moans “Mama, Mama, Mama.” He describes this experience as one of the most terrible things that he’s ever seen. The whole time he yearns to hold her hand and just tell her that it will be okay. However, none of the doctors seem to notice her pain and he himself struggles to make a move until later when he holds her hand and says, “It’s OK, dear, it’s alright”. This experience reminded me of the many complaints that patients sometimes make that some doctors treat patients more as problems or tasks than as real people who need to be cared for not only scientifically but also with humanity. The narrator wonders whether this is treatment of patients is not necessarily intentional but just a result of the sleeplessness, stress, and excessive responsibility on doctors. I agree with the narrator because, its not that doctors don’t are immune to humanity and don’t care about their patients, they are under a lot of pressure and stress which can impede them and cause them to forget that their patients need to be treated with comfort and care. I liked how later when the narrator asked a psychiatrist she said that he would have to “get used to it” but doesn’t have to “become like them”. In essence she reminds him that just because one person acts a specific way he doesn’t have
Her days are spent bedridden after an unknown trauma forces her husband to prescribe “rest cures” as the antidote. During this time period, women were dehumanized to an object that was to be seen and not heard. Resistance during this era was futile, so whatever a man deemed worthy of a woman’s doing, she permitted to do so. “If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assure friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression- a slight hysterical tendency- what one to do?” (Gilman 126) Although nothing is specifically identified in the story, this woman is suffering from post-partum depression and delirium. There is no baby to be found in the story, so one may assume a miscarriage or a stillborn death. This initial period of isolation is a key factor in helping the narrator identify truly with herself, for she starts to question the actions of the people around her who are pleading their merit through their absence. This negligence, this abuse helped to mold the mindset that she has been forced to create due to the lack of communication between doctor and patient. Feminism comes into play when the gender of the patient compromises treatment. Due to the severity of this trauma which was kept on an extremely low profile, this woman was not able to properly grieve for her lost
Her detrimental relationship with her mother turned into a psychosomatic disease, which later affected her life and the people in it.... ... middle of paper ... ... 12 Nov. 2013. http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?sid=8255d75b-58ea-4383-be87-4f5601606c51%40sessionmgr13&vid=1&hid=26&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=lfh&AN=17088173>.
There is a widely accepted stigma surrounding those suffering from mental illness. This narrow and often grossly misinformed perspective or single story has negatively affected countless lives and when left unchecked, can bring about a great deal of harm. Single stories and stereotypes are dangerous. A young woman by the name of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has both experienced them and participated in them. In her 2009 TED talk, Adichie discusses how the single story perspective negatively
What happens when Narcissism takes over a generation? Is that generation the only generation who is affected? A narcissistic generation does not happen on it 's own. Majority of Millennial 's characteristics are negative but not entirely negative. However, Generation Me only values themselves. Their overemphasis on self-esteem is well intentioned but often leads to narcissism. Both terms can be avoided with proper treatment.
Perkins describes a rocky relationship between her narrator and her husband. John has a respectable social position as a doctor and is therefore put in a position of authority. This is made clear in the lines: “If a physician of high standing...assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression…what is one to do?” (Perkins 76) Perkins puts her narrator in a position in which she is surrounded by male authority figures who restrict her will and social nature. Perkins makes it clear that social rules, which the narrator's husband attempts to protect, are responsible for aggravating her illness. From the choice of room to expression of her own feelings, the narrator is consistently denied the chance to act upon her own desires and to have them validated by the people around her. The sense of both duty towards and dependency on her husband is a dominate theme in the story. Mental illness is both denied and caused by the social relations of which she does get to participate.
Which he nodded agreeing with her. As the protagonist lays in her bed, after washing down a hand full of pills she leaves a note for her significant other which states “Keep your promise. Don’t have me revived”(229). Gordimer is able to illustrate situational irony, because the protagonist has such a strong bond with her significant other that she believes that he will not break their trust. Although she is suffering from this terminal illness which is a daily reminder in her life, that their trust is like no other and she believes that since he has promised that he would follow through and allow her to die with peace. After the protagonist commits suicide she is believed to be in a deep sleep, where she wakes. “Her eyelids were rosey blinds through which light glowed. She opened them. . . There was a hand in hers; his” (229). Gordimer illustrates that although the protagonist, her significant other promised that he would not have her revived, but he did so anyways. Because although she believes that she is suffering from an incurable terminal illness, his love for her will not allow him to let her go. Within the power of love that they both share as she wakes she couldn’t be mad at him cause through it all he was always by her
A statement from “A Memoir of Darkness” which struck out to me (as an objective observer) and which I would like to conclude this responsive paper with regard to an ‘outsiders’ inability to understand the devastation of depression (and perhaps may be generalized to other mental illness as well) is that: “…Such incomprehensiveness [relating to understanding depression] has usually been due not to a failure of sympathy, but to the basic inability of people to imagine a form of torment so alien to every day experiences.” Need more be said?
Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) is a mental disorder classified in the Diagnostic And Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) as one of the major personality disorders. Narcissistic Personality Disorder, as defined by the DSM-V, is the “pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy” that typically begins by early adulthood (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Those individuals who suffer with narcissistic personality disorder often have an inflated sense of self-importance while also displaying other characteristics. Individuals who exhibit five or more of the following traits are often diagnosed with the personality disorder: “(a) a grandiose sense of self-importance; (b) preoccupation with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; (c) beliefs of being special and unique; (d) requirements of excessive admiration; (e) a sense of entitlement; (f) interpersonal exploitativeness; (g) lack of empathy; (h) envy of others; and (i) arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes” (Skodel, Bender, & Morey, 2013). Those who display these traits often display them in socially stressful ways that affect their relationships with others and interferes with their professional and personal lives.
Narcissistic personality disorder is condition where an affected person has a superiority complex, or elevated feeling of self worth. These people do not experience much empathy for others, and often suffer problems in social situations such as work, or relationships. In contrast to the grandiosity they may present, under the surface these individuals have very a fragile self confidence and are easily hurt by criticism.
Recent research has uncovered that the Millennial Generation are more Narcissistic than previous generations (Orr et al., 2009). Narcissistic Personality Disorder is “identified by the presence of grandiose self-importance...” (Bender, 2012). Narcissists tend to see themselves as being intelligent, powerful, physically attractive, special and unique, and they expect special treatment from others while believing they owe nothing in return (McKinney, Kelly & Duran, 2012; Orr et al., 2009). Alongside this increase of Narcissistic behaviour, there has also been an increase in usage of social networking sites (SNSs) (Orr et al., 2009). SNSs such as Facebook and Twitter have been growing at an exponential rate, particularly Facebook, which is currently
Still, some narcissistic people gravitate towards religion in order to be praised by followers, exploit for personal gain, or dominate others (Sandage & Moe, 2012; Kernberg, 2014). In essence, what Sandage and Moe (2012) refer to as exterior religiosity (e.g. structure, benefit, and gain) are what often attracts narcissists to organized religion. For instance, several religious organizations are comprised of layers of hierarchy in which narcissists can entrench themselves, several church leaders have abused their posts for personal gain, and some organizations offer rewards for the faithful–such as the early Mormon Church’s offer of bigamy, worlds like the Earth for the deceased, and to eventually become god-like when one dies (Young, 1852).